Case 101: Stone Cold Liaisons
by godfatherambs
Summary: Maxelli - Jason Morgan has a secret, one that Maxie and Spinelli are determined to uncover. Well, more so nosey Maxie, but of course, she's bringing the Jackal PI along for the ride.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Harbor View Towers**

Maxie Jones was livid, and it was entirely her fault.

Kate Howard had entrusted her with the task of ordering the newest cobalt, satin Manolo Blahnik pump to wear with her black Nina La Renta cocktail dress, and she had failed.

_Miserably. _

Technically, she could blame Lulu Spencer for mixing up the shoes for the Emily Bowen Quartermaine Free Clinic Fundraiser being held this Friday night at the MetroCourt with the General Hospital Nurse's Ball that was the following week.

So when Kate breezed into the Crimson office that morning, holding one hand out for her latte, the other for her messages, and asking if her Manolo Blahniks had arrived, Maxie's blood nearly ran cold. She tried to convince Kate that she had asked for the hot-off-the-shoehorn Jimmy Choo, but the fashion buff knew better, and simply rolled her eyes and told Maxie to get the shoes or else she and Lulu both would be fired.

Of course, when Maxie started making calls, first to Manhattan, and then across the country, desperate to find the damn shoe somewhere, she was told they were being wait-listed, and Kate Howard would have to be patient.

The once fashion icon's reputation had gone to hell in a hand basket the second she'd chosen Sonny Corinthos over all things Couture, which was the stupidest thing the woman could have ever done, but Maxie would never tell Kate such a thing.

She liked her job too much.

Sighing, she tapped her foot, impatiently waiting for the elevator to open on the fifteenth floor of Harbor View Towers. If she was going to fix her problem, there was only one person she could count on, and her job depended on it, so she knew Damien Spinelli would come through.

"Thank God," she muttered, when the elevator dinged and the doors parted. She thought about telling Jason Morgan that a mobster should have speedier means of getting to his penthouse, but she was already walking a fine line with him.

Just last week, she'd not so slightly scratched his pool table while her and Spinelli were playing around one afternoon, and he'd looked up from his travel book about some third world country or another, and told her to never touch his pool table again. She dropped the pool stick immediately, letting it clang to the hardwood floor, before stepping over it in her black Frederico Cabrero pumps and telling Jason to stuff it.

Spinelli started to spit and sputter on the spot, and Maxie couldn't actually believe she'd said it, but she did have an annoying habit of speaking without thinking. Fortunately for her, just when Jason's brow raised and his lips parted, his cell phone rang and distracted him from whatever speech he was going to give her about respect.

If Jason Morgan wanted her respect, he was going to have to earn it. Otherwise, she was giving him hell until he did.

"Spinelli!" she screeched, pounding her tiny fist against the door. "I have an emergency, and if you don't help me, I will never speak to you a-"

The door promptly swung open and Spinelli appeared in his usual disheveled appearance of a striped collared shirt, paired with checkered shorts and extremely messy hair.

Maxie wasn't even going to comment on the hair.

Or the fact that there were barbecue chip crumbs stuck to the orange soda stain on his shirt.

"You're a mess," she said, unable to help herself as she stepped past him and into the penthouse. She dropped her oversized black Chanel bag on Jason's desk near the door, before turning around and batting her eyes at Spinelli as she grinned widely. "I need a favor, a huge, epic favor, and my job depends on it! You have to fix this for me Spinelli!"

"I see," he said, closing the door behind her and returning her smile. His voice dropped a few octaves so that it was low and husky. "So, how may the Jackal service the Fair Maximista today?"

"Why are you talking like that?" she asked, arching an eyebrow as she reached over to her purse and pulled out a photograph. "I need these. Like yesterday. Or else Kate is going to fire me and that sorry, good-for-nothing-but-stomping-around-on-floors Lulu, and every hope and dream I have of becoming a fashion icon of my own will diminish, and I'll be the girl who screwed up Kate Howard's shoes."

She paused, catching her breath as she shook her head. "Granted, Kate's leverage has dropped completely after bedding Sonny Corinthos. I mean, I would never throw my life long dream of being a true fashion icon away for some stupid man. Even if he's tall, dark, handsome and has the wallet to back it up." She reached out and poked Spinelli in the arm. "This is why I like you. You don't try to get in the way of my dreams or prevent me from being so fashionably awesome. Though we could do some work on you."

"Anyway," she sighed, holding out the photograph, "I need these now."

Spinelli nodded, frowning at the picture and lifting his eyes to her's. "Fair Maximista, how am I, the Jackal, supposed to aid you in getting a pair of Man-Lo Blan-kicks?"

"Manolo Blahniks," she corrected, rolling her eyes. "What are you standing there for?" She grabbed him by the arm and shoved him towards the couch, bending over at the same time to slide his laptop in front of him. "Find these shoes."

"Fair Maximista, I don't think you under-"

"Fired, Spinelli. I am going to get fired, and lose everything that I ever wanted. Do you want that to happen?"

"Well, no, but the Jackal isn't privy to aspects of the fashion world, and how does one go about obtaining said shoes?"

"The shoes are on a waiting list. They are the newest pair, and Kate needs them-"

"Like yesterday," he cut in, as if she needed the reminder.

"Exactly," she huffed, walking around to the back of the couch, where she proceeded to pace and wring her hands. "I called every freaking store in this country, because there's no way I get could them from overseas or even Canada this quickly, and they all said Kate Howard – the one fashion icon of the world – had to wait. This is exactly why you don't sleep with Sonny Corinthos."

"So," she hissed, leaning over the back of the couch and grabbing Spinelli by the collar. She jerked him back so that her mouth was next to his ear. "You need to hack into one of their systems, find the damn waiting listing, and put Kate Howard at the top." She started to release him, and then pulled him back again. "Or you could find a pair that are ready to go out or already shipped and hack into UPS or Fed-Ex or one of those damn services. Just get the pumps, and make sure they are in a size 9."

"Erm, well, the Jackal, just can't-"

"Spinelli," she hissed, her breath hot on his ear. "I need you to do this for me. My life depends on it, and you care about my life don't you?"

He nodded. "The Jackal will do his best to save the Fair Maximista."

"And that is why I love you, Spinelli," she said, pressing a kiss against his cheek as she released him and straightened up behind the couch. "Now get to work!"

She continued to pace back and forth behind the couch, her heels clicking softly on the hardwood floors. She hated feeling anxious, because that meant she was nervous, which usually meant she broke into a sweat.

Maxie didn't like to sweat. _Ever._

Damn Kate Howard, and her high society needs.

But perhaps, maybe one day, she'd have a fashion magazine of her own and two minions to boss around. One that she would love and adore and the other she would constantly roll her eyes at and make snide remarks. If she was really lucky, maybe one day she could take over at Crimson, and Lulu Spencer, being the girl who never seems to get anywhere, would be forced to be her assistant.

On second thought, Maxie would just fire that clomping, can't-match-clothes-if-her-life-depended-on-it-heavy breather on the spot, which made such a dream _very_ worth it.

She looked over briefly at Spinelli, who was typing away furiously and muttering under his breath. He stopped occasionally to look at the photograph, making lots of hmms, and Maxie had no idea how to feel about that.

He _had_ to fix this.

Her eyes shifted to the door to see Jason Morgan coming inside, wearing his quintessential leather jacket and black t-shirt.

Now there was a man who was _definitely_ in a fashion crisis. Not that she was going to tell him that. She seriously valued her life way too much to tell a mobster his look wasn't working for him. She'd seen enough movies, and the last thing she wanted was for Milo and Max to grab her in an alley and tie her to cement blocks.

"Spinelli, I need you to do some work for me," he said, sliding his jacket off as he walked over to the closet to hang up his jacket.

At least he was neat with his things.

"The Jackal is currently-"

"Busy," Maxie cut in, glaring at her friend. She pointed a slender finger at him and narrowed her eyes. "Don't you dare move until you get me those shoes!"

"Shoes?" Jason grunted, sliding his gun into the lock box and closing the closet door. She'd seen him do this on a regular basis, but it still made her knees tremble.

"Yes, shoes," she said flatly, hurrying over to him in hopes of keeping him away from Spinelli. "He is doing some very important work for me and Crimson, and the last thing he needs is-"

"Work for Kate?" Jason asked, arching an eyebrow as he shook his head.

"Not so much Kate as it is for me," Maxie replied seriously, placing a hand on her chest. "Look I get that you hate her for paying off Ian Devlin, who was responsible for Michael's shooting, but this isn't about her. It's about _me_."

"Like most things are," he said, rolling his eyes as he looked over her shoulder at Spinelli. "When you're finished with her, I need you to do some work for _me_."

"The Jackal will be at your services shortly," he murmured, holding up a hand as he clicked several keys, before jumping up from the couch. "Aha! Man-Lo Blan-kicks are now en route to the MetroCourt hotel and should arrive promptly tomorrow afternoon."

"Aw, Spinelli, you're the greatest!" Maxie cried, hurrying over to him and throwing her arms around his neck. "I really have no idea what I would do without you. Those shoes are going to save my life."

"Well, I hope the poor soul in lower Manhattan doesn't mind being trumped by the true fashionista," he replied, holding her tightly against him.

"Well, the Jackal is all your's," she sighed, pulling out of his arms and hurrying over to grab her purse. "I have to get back to the office. I spent my lunch break hoping to avert this crisis."

Jason's phone rang and he slipped it from his pocket, his eyebrows raised at seeing the name on the caller ID. "I have to go," he muttered, opening the closet door and grabbing his jacket and gun that he'd just put away. He hurried out, sliding the phone to his ear and murmuring a low hello.

Maxie turned to Spinelli when the door closed behind him, her brows furrowed in confusion. "What was that about?" she asked, sliding her purse over her shoulder and pointing to where Jason was just standing.

"Stone Cold clearly had some place to be," he shrugged, sitting back down in front of his computer. "Though I would have appreciated it if he told me what exactly the Jackal needed to do, but alas…"

"No, Spinelli, you don't get it," she said, walking over to the chair and sitting down on the arm. "He did the same thing a few times last week. Like remember when I was reading one of his gun magazines, and I said something about how I wanted a cute, pink Beretta, and he was all guns aren't supposed to be cute, and I said, well if they were people wouldn't be so scared of him. And he did that whole you're supposed to be scared of them thing, and I said no, people are afraid of you even without the guns. So maybe a pink Beretta would do you some good. Remember?"

Spinelli nodded slowly, rubbing his fingers against his temple.

"Well, his phone rang just as steam started to pour out of his ear, but the second he saw the caller ID, he smiled and hurried out of the room."

"Well, perhaps, Stone Cold was awaiting the most important of coffee bean news."

"You're not getting it," she laughed, gently brushing her blonde hair from her face. "I mean, another example, the other day when we ordered pizza, and I jokingly said I loved pizza and beer to make fun of him and his desperate desire to have a beer with his pizza-"

"Stone Cold enjoys a cold beverage when the Fair Maximista is in his presence," he cut in, but she rolled her eyes, ignoring him.

"He started to get all I'm Jason Morgan and you can go suck it, but before the words left his mouth, his phone rang and he hurried out," Maxie said, grinning widely. "Just like he did seconds ago. And his face turns soft – one of those I'm so happy, but I don't want people to know it kind of grins. Not that I'm complaining because Jason could benefit from cracking a smile every now and then."

"Is the Fair Maximista trying to get at something?"

"Well, unless Jason gets really excited about coffee beans..." She shrugged, getting up from the chair. "I think Stone Cold has a secret he's keeping from you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Grand Ballroom, Metro Court Hotel**

"I'd like to thank of all of you for coming tonight," Nikolas Cassidine said, standing on the small stage at the front of the room, a glass of champagne in his hand. He looked as handsome as ever in his tailored tuxedo and perfectly straight bowtie. "My late fiancé would be honored to know that her friends and family, the people she cares most about, as well as perfect strangers, have come together for a worthy cause. It's one that I believe Port Charles desperately needs, and I hope that the Emily Bowen Quartermaine Free Clinic will bring healthcare and aid to the less fortunate in every possible way."

Clearing his throat, he tugged nervously at his collar and lifted his glass into the air. "She wanted to serve her community, much like her parents, by becoming a doctor. It was near and dear to her heart, and it feels good to know that while she can't be here with us, she can still serve Port Charles like she always wanted. Again, I thank each and every one of you for coming tonight and also for opening your wallets." He paused, giving the crowd time to laugh softly, before rocking his glass back and forth in the air. "To Emily."

"To Emily," the crowd murmured in response, holding up their glasses and taking a sip her honor.

"You okay?" Carly Corinthos-Jax asked, leaning towards Jason, who was slumped over the bar, his back to Nikolas.

He nodded, shaking the ice around in his untouched glass of bourbon. "It's good that he's doing something like this."

"She'll get to live on forever, which I know doesn't seem like much," she said softly, sliding her arm over her friend's shoulder.

"It helps," he swallowed hard, pushing himself away from the bar and her touch. "I'm going to get some air."

Across the room, Maxie frowned, watching Jason slowly make his way across the room towards the terrace doors. Sometimes she wished there was something she could say to him about Emily. Her intentions weren't entirely pure, but she thought that if she could comfort Jason in some way about the loss of his sister, maybe he would warm up to her presence in his penthouse. Not to mention, that like him, she'd lost a sister at the hands of the text message killer, and if anyone could understand, maybe it was Jason.

Or maybe she'd just had entirely _too_ much champagne.

"Well, Sonny, I hope you brought your checkbook," Kate murmured from the other side of the table, reaching for her sparkly black clutch that matched her equally sparkly ball gown. "Jax and I already agreed to donate a fabulously large check from _Crimson_. Not only is it for a good cause, but it will be great for the magazine."

Maxie couldn't help but roll her eyes at the remark, feeling somewhat disgusted at Kate's way of exploiting this cause. Sighing, she quickly reminded herself it wasn't anything she wouldn't do.

"Aw, look who's sitting all alone," Lulu Spencer purred, sitting down next to Maxie and motioning for her boyfriend, Johnny Zacharra to sit down on the other side of her.

The second the tables went on sale for the fundraiser, Jax and Kate agreed to buy one of the biggest and closest ones to the front, which meant that Maxie was dining with a table full of complications. Carly was now married to Jax, but it could be argued she was still in love with Sonny, who was now marrying Kate. And as assistants at the magazine, she and Lulu were invited to attend with a guest, forcing her to listen to her fellow employee coo over her extremely hot boyfriend.

"You know Johnny," Maxie said, pushing her chair out from the table and getting up to saunter over to the back of his chair. She braced her hands on the back of it, leaning down so that her mouth was close to his ear. "It's a shame that such a perfectly tailored tuxedo is being wasted on a tramp like Lulu, but even hot men have their faults."

Standing back up, she glanced at Lulu and shook her head at the blonde's pale yellow ball gown. "Yellow really does wash out your skin tone. Too bad you haven't learned a darn thing while working at Crimson."

Lulu's cheeks turned flush, and Johnny narrowed his eyes as Maxie flashed a smile before breezing away from the table, her head held high.

Now, if only she could find her date.

**Grand Ballroom Terrace, Metro Court Hotel**

"I can't imagine how hard this is for you," Elizabeth said softly, stepping up beside Jason who was facing the gardens at the back of the hotel, his hands tightly gripping the iron railing.

The entire event seemed to be centering upon memories of Emily; her work at the hospital and her relationships with those she touched. There hadn't been a dry eye left in the house for most the night, which probably wasn't what Nikolas intended the evening to be about, but there was no doubt that Port Charles was missing Emily Quartermaine.

"It must be hard for you too," he replied, staring straight forward and not looking at her.

"Sure, it would be easy to curl up in a ball at a moment's notice," she murmured, reaching out and touching his arm. "But if we don't talk about her, if we don't remember Emily, that's dishonoring her too."

He nodded, his hands still clenching the railing. "I'd rather be anywhere but here," he said honestly, his voice shaky. "I'd rather…I'd rather be with you."

"I wish that you could be," she agreed, rubbing her hands up and down her chilly arms. "I wish that you could be with Jake tonight and that maybe he could give you some kind of comfort."

Near the doors, Maxie frowned, watching the exchange between Jason and Elizabeth, rolling her eyes at the thought of Ms. Angel sneaking away to comfort her beloved enforcer. Granted, whatever relationship existed between the two of them was none of her business, but it sure made for fantastic town gossip, and Maxie just loved that.

She frowned when Elizabeth reached out to touch Jason, and he pulled away, almost feeling bad for the brunette. It's not like she was doing anything wrong, but this was Jason, and his social skills would never be up to par. Her mind getting the best of her, as well as her annoyance at Spinelli's disappearance, she grabbed the door handle, pushing it open and stepped onto the terrace.

Elizabeth's eyes snapped to hers immediately, and her face turned flushed as Jason turned around beside her. The rims of his eyes were red and filled with tears, and Maxie almost regretted ever coming outside.

"Um, I was just wondering if you've seen Spinelli," she said, brushing her bangs away from her face as Elizabeth hurried past her and disappeared inside.

"Check the bar," Jason replied, turning his back to her again and letting out a heavy sigh. "He was asking the bartender about orange sodas."

"Thanks," she muttered, smoothing her hands over the front of her violet knee-length dress. Against her better judgment, she stepped towards him and without thinking just started to talk. "I'm really sorry about what happened to Emily. If any woman was ever really special to you, it was her. It was like she was able to break through that cold barrier you put up when a woman enters the room, and I know that's hard to lose that because I lost Georgie. She was the only person that I could ever be vulnerable around, and she always saw the good in me, even when I was feeding pills to Lucky or sleeping with Lulu's boyfriend."

"And well, sometimes you need to be reminded that good exists inside of you," she continued, leaning against the railing and looking over at him, wondering if she should be terrified that he wasn't looking back at her. "I mean, Georgie didn't look at me and see a stupid, bleached-blonde slut, just like I'm sure Emily didn't look at you and think lethal Kingpin and serial killer." Jason's jaw ticked at her words, and she hurried to cover herself. "Though I guess serial killer isn't appropriate. It's hitman, right? Or enforcer? I never can keep up with these things. Spinelli tried to get me to watch the Godfather once, and I was just too focused on how hot Marlon Brando was to care about anything else. Not to mention that I kept thinking about Sonny and how he's so not like Don-"

"Maximista!" Spinelli cried, hurrying out onto the terrace, looking exceptionally dapper in his tuxedo that she'd picked out days before.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, looping her arm through his as his friend turned around and looked at him.

"Get rid of her," he said firmly, glaring at Spinelli.

"I was just being nice to you, Jason. I know you're not used-"

"Go dance. Or get her a drink," he interrupted, ignoring her as he stepped past them. "Just keep her away from me."

"I swear," she huffed, shaking her head as Jason disappeared into the ballroom. "Jason Morgan could use an etiquette class or two."

**Grand Ballroom Bar, Metro Court Hotel**

"I think those dancing lessons paid off," Maxie said sweetly, leaning against the bar and waving her fingers at the adorable bartender on the other end.

"The Fair Maximista is too kind," Spinelli replied, attempting to straighten his bow, only to result in making it more crooked than she imagined was possible.

"Goodness, let me," she muttered, rolling her eyes as she pulled him up so that he was standing straight.

She dipped her fingers beneath the tuxedo shirt, straightening out the collar, before sliding her hands around to the bow tie. "I told you that all you needed was the touch of a very talented woman," she said, expertly retying his tie in a matter of seconds. "You look very handsome. You only stepped on my feet a few times. And you've stayed away from any alcoholic drinks."

"Well, perhaps it is the charm of the Fair Maximista finally influencing the Jackal," he replied, grinning widely as the bartender approached them.

"What can I get you and your lady?" he asked Spinelli, flashing a flirty smile Maxie's way, who was pleased at the attention, but found it somewhat disgusting that he would hit on her with her date standing right there.

_Men_, they just didn't get it.

"The Jackal would love an orange soda, assuming that you've managed to round such a drink up. I have it on good authority that the former wife of the Godfather, now wife of the wealthy entrepreneur keeps such a drink lying around. As for the Fair Maximista, well the Jackal is unsure seeing as her incessant mood changes sometimes require caffeinated beverages, or liquor in non self-destructive circumstances, but often just a mineral water or club soda, so it would be rude of him to order."

The bartender arched his eyebrow, nodding even though it was obvious the poor man had no idea what Spinelli had just said.

"An orange soda and a mineral water," she answered, shaking her head at Spinelli and placing her hand on his shoulder. "You really don't have to get so nervous. Whatever you would have ordered for me is fine, and it wouldn't have been rude."

Her eyes swept across the room, frowning when she saw Jason disappear onto the terrace again, only to be followed by Claudia Zacharra, Johnny's older sister, seconds later. He sure was a busy one too, and it was clear that he didn't want anyone's company.

These damn women in Port Charles were just _so_ desperate.

"An orange soda and a mineral water," the bartender murmured, setting them on the bar as Spinelli fumbled for his wallet to leave a tip.

The entire event had been made an open bar on Nikolas Cassidine's dime, meaning that all the drunks in town were dressed to the nines and getting drunk on the Prince's dollars.

Oh, to be royalty.

"Here, very kind beverage keeper," Spinelli said, sliding a ten across the bar with a shaky hand, only to bump his orange soda, causing it to tumble forward and land on the front of Maxie's dress.

"Spinelli!" she screeched loudly, jumping away from the bar as the drink soaked into the material of the dress. "This is on loan from the _Crimson_ closet! Kate is going to kill me!"

"The Jackal gives his most humble apologies and hopes that the Fair Maximista will, perhaps, allow him to find a good dry cleaning service-"

"You can't just dry clean vintage!" she hissed, glaring at her date, before stomping off in the direction of the bathroom, leaving him behind.

**Grand Ballroom Ladies Room, Metro Court Hotel**

Okay, so maybe in hindsight she had been a _little_ overdramatic.

That didn't make her any less pissed off that she was now in the bathroom, soaking orange soda out of her vintage, designer dress with stiff, brown paper towels.

If only Kate could see her now, she'd surely fire Maxie on the spot.

"Stupid, stupid drink," she hissed, as the stall opened behind her, and Elizabeth stepped out, eyeing her curiously, a cell phone pressed against her ear.

"Um, yeah, I'll be there soon," she said, freezing briefly as she met Maxie's gaze before stuttering into the phone. "What, _Grams_? What? Sorry, you're breaking up. Must be bad the reception in the bathroom or something. What, _Grams_? Yeah, yeah. I'll see you soon. Thank you so much for keeping the boys. Okay, okay." She paused, briefly, her cheeks turning pink as she dropped her clutch on the sink and busied herself washing her hands. "I know. It's okay. I love you too."

She reached past Maxie for a paper towel, her phone still pressed against her ear. "You know," she said, tossing the paper into the garbage and grabbing her phone from her ear, "some club soda will help with that."

"What?" she asked, straightening up and raising her eyebrows at the brunette, caught off guard by the fact that Elizabeth was actually being nice to her. "Oh, the dress. I didn't think of that. Spinelli just knocked his stupid orange soda over when we were standing at the bar. Then I yelled at him because I was thinking about the dress and not his feelings, and I know what you're going to say, of course I would be, but this is Spinelli. And now I feel terrible."

"Something tells me he'll forgive you," Elizabeth replied, opening the door as Sam entered, a phone pressed to her ear.

Maxie couldn't help but smile as she saw the uncomfortable look pass between the two women, and she _almost_ felt bad for the both of them, but chalked it up to being upset about Spinelli.

"Yeah, Lucky, I understand," she said, grinning at Maxie and leaning against the sink. She held her hand up, asking her to wait until she finished her call. "I'll tell Nikolas you'll drop by later. I'm sure he understands that you were spending time with the boys and got called into work before you dropped them off at Audrey's. Okay, I'll see you then."

She snapped her phone shut and turned to Maxie. "Have an accident?"

"Was that Lucky?" she asked, tossing her paper towels into the trash and frowning at her reflection in the mirror. It was by no means going to dry anytime soon, but didn't appear to be staining too terribly. She'd have to take Elizabeth's advice about the club soda fairly soon if she wanted to be sure. "He's with Cameron and Jake?"

"He was," she replied, reapplying her lipstick and blowing a kiss at her reflection. "Audrey was visiting a friend in the city, so Lucky offered to keep the boys so Elizabeth could come tonight, and he was going to come later. Sometimes I think he's just too nice to her after everything she put him through, but anyway, Audrey just pulled into his driveway to pick them up, having come straight from Manhattan. And of course, Lucky got called into work for some new case, which means it's unlikely that he'll be coming tonight."

"So, Audrey just got back in town?" Sam nodded, looking at her curiously. "And she didn't even have the boys say ten minutes ago?"

"Nope," she replied, combing her fingers through her hair. "Why?"

"Well, I could have sworn that Elizabeth…Never mind, no reason," Maxie said, grabbing her purse off the sink. "I've got to get some club soda for my dress."

She left Sam standing baffled in front of the mirror as she hurried towards the bar, her eyes quickly seeking out Elizabeth in the ballroom.

Something fishy was _definitely_ going on.

**Grand Ballroom, Metro Court Hotel**

"So she basically lied," Maxie murmured, scrubbing at the front of her dress with the handkerchief she'd slipped from Sonny's pocket when he wasn't looking.

He wasn't a mobster anymore, and she wasn't a man, so it wasn't like he was going to bang her head against the wall for borrowing it. And if he tried, well, she was sure Spinelli would defend her honor, or at least try to. Sonny was such an asshole though, and well, she did have the law on her side, and her father wouldn't hesitate to put him behind bars if he so much as touched a hair on her head.

Sometimes having overprotective Mac Scorpio around was _actually_ a good thing.

"Perhaps, Fair Elizabeth didn't wish for the nosey, but Fair Maximista to eavesdrop on her conversation," Spinelli replied, frowning as she dampened the cloth with more club soda and continued to wipe at the material. "The Jackal feels he must extend further apologies for the fate of your vintage-"

"No, it's fine," she interrupted, shrugging as she wiped. "Thankfully Elizabeth said something about the club soda because it's helping, but I could have gotten it dry cleaned, I was just upset."

"I would never wish to cause you any distress."

"Aw, Spinelli, I know that. I just saw a stain on a vintage gown, and that's the same as your laptop overheating or your hard thingy crashing."

"Drive."

"Yeah, that," she said, smiling as she folded Sonny's handkerchief and left it in her lap, suddenly wondering how she was going to get it back into his pocket.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you," she apologized, looking over at him as she settled back in her chair. "You've been so good to me tonight, coming as my date when I couldn't find anyone else, and you even danced and complimented me on my dress, and you're just always there for me. I shouldn't snap at you over something as silly as a dress, even if it's vintage and probably was once worn by someone famous, and you basically ruined one of their namesakes-"

"The Jackal understands the direness of the situation," he cut in, folding his hands into his lap. "No reminder is necessary."

Sonny and Kate approached the table from the other side, the oversized diamond ring on her left hand catching every bit of light in the room. Don't get her wrong, Maxie loved diamonds, but there was such a thing as too big, which could come off as looking desperate.

And there was no doubt in her mind that Sonny was the latter.

He pulled out his chair for Kate, who smiled softly at them across the table. "Spinelli, you look very nice this evening," she said, patting her fiancé on the shoulder when he sat down next to her. "A good tuxedo does amazing things for every man."

He just nodded uncomfortably, having learned better than to speak in Sonny's presence, and Maxi knew it was because the jerk couldn't seem to understand that Spinelli was a human being with feelings. Sure, he talked in his own way and had specific routines, but that was no reason for him to treat her friend like garbage. If anything, she liked to imagine that deep down, Sonny was jealous that he was such a crappy person, and Spinelli was just so damn great.

Sonny's eyes landed on Spinelli's briefly, before he shifted them across the room. "I haven't even spoken to Jason tonight," he muttered, reaching for his short glass of scotch.

Maxie frowned, knowing that was about his fourth glass, and while she had never really experienced an intoxicated Sonny Corinthos, she'd heard rumors. Not to mention that it was just tasteless to get plastered at a benefit for a woman he was previously involved with.

Goodness, this man had _a lot_ to learn if he was going to exist in the world of Couture.

"I saw him talking to Carly earlier," Kate replied, looking around the ballroom. "I'm sure he's keeping to himself. This must be incredibly hard for him, Sonny. I barely know Jason, but from what you say, Emily meant the world to him." She reached for her glass of wine and looked over at Spinelli. "Give him my best, will you?"

He nodded, dropping his eyes to his lap as his face filled with distress, and she knew it was because of Jason's obvious dislike for the woman.

"You could be respectful," Sonny hissed, shifting his eyes back to Spinelli. "After all, you're dining and dating on Kate's dime tonight."

Spinelli stiffened, his gaze staying in his lap. "No disrespect Mr. Corinthos, sir, but you know you exactly why the Jackal will never give Stone Cold best wishes on the part of the lovely Fashionista."

"Excuse me?" Sonny snarled, getting up from his chair.

"Please don't do this here," Kate said, grabbing his wrist when heads turned from the surrounding tables.

"Or ever," Maxie spat, as she stood up and threw his stained handkerchief down on the table, grabbing Spinelli by the hand. "You know, if you want respect, you have to earn it, Sonny."

"You better back off, sweetheart, before you bite off more than you can chew," he growled, leaning across the table.

"Or what?" she challenged, smirking and tossing her head back to get her hair out of her eyes. "You going to bury me six feet under?" She paused, glancing at Spinelli and shook her head as she grinned. "Wait, you can't do that anymore. You're basically a nobody, which means you better stop treating everyone like you're someone special."

Before the once mob kingpin could reply, she pulled Spinelli away from the table, her knees shaking from a mixture of rage and fear.

"I am so sick of him kicking you around," she said, heading towards the lobby, still clutching his hand.

"The Jackal appreciates the Fair Maximista's sentiments, but Mr. Corinthos is to be betrothed to your boss, and don't you think-"

"She's not going to fire me because then she'd just have Lulu," she interrupted, rounding the corner and barreling into Jason so hard, she nearly fell over. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"You ran into me," he said, smoothing his hands over the front of his rumpled tuxedo. His bowtie hung loosely at his neck, and she couldn't help but notice that the top two buttons on his tuxedo shirt were missing.

"I think you're just a little preoccupied," she replied, narrowing her eyes as she looked him up and down.

"Don't look at me like that," Jason muttered, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck and glaring at Spinelli. "Make her stop looking at me like that."

"Fair Maximista, perhaps we should continue-" He stopped mid-sentence when Claudia came upon them, tugging at the hem of her dress with one hand, while she combed her hair with the other.

"Just the man I wanted to run into," she purred, running her finger down Jason's arm.

Maxie arched an eyebrow and smirked at him as he shook his head and threw his hands up. "Stop following me," he said angrily, before looking at Spinelli. "Make her stop following me."

"Like I don't have better things to do," Maxie scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Without another word, Jason grabbed Claudia by the arm, jerking her down the hallway, laughing when she commented about liking it rough.

"Please tell me they are not-"

"Fair Elizabeth!" Spinelli interrupted, extending a hand and a smile to the tiny brunette as she rounded the corner.

She froze briefly, just like she had in the bathroom earlier in the evening, her cheeks turning flushed. "Spinelli…Maxie."

"I heard the boys had a great time with Lucky," she teased, unable to bite her tongue, enjoying how the brunette squirmed.

"Oh," Elizabeth murmured, rubbing a hand over her neck, pushing away enough hair for Maxie to sneak a peek at the faint hickey on her neck.

"Hey, Elizabeth!" Leo said, coming upon them, his tuxedo as rumpled as Jason's had been. "Don't think you're getting away without that dance."

"Of course not," she replied, swallowing hard as the doctor draped his arm around her waist, tugging her away from them.

Maxie's eyes widened as she turned to watch them walk away. "Oh, I really hope she's not sleeping with Leo."

Spinelli frowned, looking at her intently. "You can't think the Fair Elizabeth has a soft spot for _him_. Granted, he is a man who handles matters of the heart, but to think…"

"Exactly," she said, nodding as she looped her arm back through his and steered them towards the lobby. "Such a shame because he is a total downgrade from the hotness that is Lucky and Jason, but his wallet and charm could quite possibly make up for it. She is a single mother after all, and she's searching for the right man to be a father to her babies."

"Look on the bright side," she continued happily, squeezing him on the arm. "Elizabeth banging Leo is not nearly as bad as Jason banging Claudia Zacharra."

"You couldn't possibly think…," he gasped, shaking his head as they made their way to the lobby.

"You're so innocent, Spinelli," she teased, grinning at him. "The rumpled clothes, the uncomfortable stares, not to mention the hickey that I saw on Elizabeth's neck, and how pissed off Jason was at being caught. And how he grabbed Claudia and dragged her away, who totally had that _I-just-got-it-real-good_ grin on her face." She frowned, not noticing the way Spinelli was looking over his shoulder, a tight grimace on his face. "It's just so not fair. They all snuck away to have hot, sweaty, grief sex, and you know, I kind of envy them for it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Harbor View Towers, Penthouse 2**

Sighing, Spinelli sat back on the couch, his feet propped on the coffee table as he perused the morning's issue of the _Port Charles Herald_, sad to see that in the last twenty-four hours little had changed in the town.

Mayor Floyd's numbers were continuing to drop steadily, despite his statement that he would, "Up the face and clean the streets of Port Charles." Clearly, no one believed him.

Alexis Davis had captured another criminal and put him behind bars, and the journalist couldn't refrain from saying that she'd yet to catch any of the _real_ ones.

The gossip column was still raving about the possible outcomes for Kate Howard's fall nuptials to the former kingpin, Sonny Corinthos, and even Spinelli found himself wondering how that one would turn out. He marked the headline with a pink highlighter as he did all articles that he wished to pass on to Maxie and flipped to the back of the paper to skim over the short listing of crimes.

It became evident almost immediately that he wasn't going to find a thing, so he folded the paper up neatly so that the page with the article about Kate rested face up and laid it on the coffee table.

He reached for the pile of papers sitting next to his laptop and settled back against the couch. Just days ago, he'd found an article online that suggested advertising your private investigator abilities by way of brochures and business cards. He imagined having something sleek and sophisticated that represented all things the Jackal wasn't, but would be once he figured the whole P.I. thing out completely.

Tucking the soda at his side, he thumbed through the various printouts he'd managed to create on his own, knowing that Maxie was more highly suited for such a job, but she'd been working overtime, and he was just eager to get it done. He attempted to fold one sheet over, but the pages came out uneven, and he grew flustered and tossed the stack back onto the table.

Spinelli was seriously bored.

Jason hadn't come home last night or even called, and he'd stayed up while Maxie worked overtime again, and spent the entire evening playing video games. If he had any heart or a lesser fear of the dark, he would have been out on the streets, itching to find a mystery of his own.

"Spinelli!"

"Maximista!" he cried, getting up from the couch to answer the door in such a hurry that he knocked the soda over and the liquid seeped into the cushion.

"Spinelli, can you open the door? I am wearing the most uncomfortable pair of stilettos, and if I don't get them off my feet soon, I will die," she hissed, her fist continuing to pound on the door.

"One second, the Jackal has the direst of emergencies," he replied, looking around for something to clean up the stain with.

"Spinelli!"

"Coming," he said, throwing a pillow over the cushion and hurrying over to the door.

"Geez, took you long enough," she replied, grinning as she breezed into the penthouse, dropping her purse on the desk and kicking her shoes off next to it. "It is not fair that cute shoes are so painful to wear."

"You are so devoted despite the woes of fashion," he admired, smiling softly as he took in the sight of her bare feet and perfectly painted toenails as they moved across the floor.

"Having terrible feet by the time I'm fifty is just a price I have to pay," she shrugged, throwing herself down in the chair. "At least I'll be hot and sassy while I've got it to flaunt." She turned so that her legs were dangling over the chair arm, peering over the back of it at Spinelli. "So, what have you been up to today?"

"Oh, well the Jackal was just…" He scratched his head as he walked back over to the couch, careful to avoid the cushion when he sat down. "You know…Very Jackal-like things."

"Which tells me nothing," she groaned, stretching her arms over her head. "Come on, Spinelli. I have been stuck in an office with Kate for nearly forty-eight hours, watching her try on dress after dress for the Nurse's Ball. Give me something _real_."

"The true fashionista made the gossip column this morning," he shrugged, pushing the paper towards her.

"I don't even want to look at it," she said, sitting up and shoving it onto the floor so that it was out of sight. "You have no idea what a fiasco it was. Kate chose to be with Sonny, and she chose every damn paparazzi freak that wants the dirt behind their relationship. If Kate is going to take Jax to every damn event in Manhattan, people are going to say she's having an affair."

"The worst is that she comes into work and takes it all out on me. Lulu is stuck getting some easy job like loading the fax machine with paper, and I get reamed because Perez Hilton drew a circle around her belly and said she was sperminated, and she would need a paternity test asap."

"Is this one of those fashion designers you two so adequately adore?"

She cracked a smile, letting out a soft giggle. "I just love you, Spinelli. You're so cute and clueless. Coming over here is such a breath of fresh air after being stuck in the office." She leaned forward, nosily brushing around his papers. "What's all this?"

"In your absence, the Jackal started a project that no doubt needs the tender, loving touch of the great Maximista."

"Did you make this?" she asked, shaking her head.

"Yes, but the Jackal is well aware-"

"Oh, Spinelli, you never want to make it look like you're trying too hard to sell yourself," she muttered, flipping through them. "And you don't want to sound too intelligent because that could turn people off. You need something bright and happy that catches people's eye, but…" She held up one with the words, 'Thefts, Robberies, Murders – The Jackal P.I. is your guy!', scrawled across the top. "No."

"But those are the kinds of mysteries that the Jackal P.I. wishes to solve."

She slid onto the floor, resting on her knees as she leaned over and squeezed his hand, and he did his best to avoid breaking out in a sweat. "I know that you want to be this great investigator and fight crime and change lives, but you really need to think about this."

Frowning, he suddenly worried that she was going to tell him his lifelong dream was about to crash and burn.

"One, you work for Jason Morgan, so you need to be really careful about what kind of crimes you choose to solve. In fact, you should probably run your cases by him, even if it goes against the P.I. oath or whatever."

"How do you know about the oath?" he asked curiously, arching an eyebrow at her.

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "I have to read this crap you have lying around too, just in case you ever need me to bail you out."

"The Jackal is touched that the Fair Maximista cares so deeply."

"Someone has to," she said, tossing his papers onto the coffee table. "And secondly, you really need to start small. You don't want to take on something that's too big."

"Well, the Jackal put together the mystery revolving around the identity of the Text Message Killer, and he also aided Stone Cold in the discovery of the shooter behind poor Michael's-"

"But you had help with those, Spinelli," she said, smiling softly, and he knew she wasn't meaning anything by it. "Start small….Like finding missing necklaces for some rich old woman…Or helping save cats out of trees…Or figuring out why a species is dying."

"While the Jackal would like nothing more than to prevent small woodland creatures from suffering a dire fate, it isn't exactly something that would boost his P.I. resume."

"I know, Spinelli, but start small and when a real mystery comes along we'll jump on it," she said, as the penthouse door opened.

Spinelli grimaced, leaning back against the couch and pressing the cushion against the stain, and Maxie gave him a curious look as she lifted herself back into the chair. "How are you on this fine day, Stone Cold?"

"Good," he said, narrowing his eyes at the pile of papers on the coffee table. "Clean that mess up."

"The Jackal had all intentions-"

"Aren't you even going to ask Spinelli how his day was?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Of course, because as long as Jason Morgan's doing fine-"

"How are you doing, Maxie?" Jason interrupted pointedly, leaning around the chair to look at her.

"Better before you asked," she replied, making a face, "because now I'm just creeped out."

Jason shifted his eyes to Spinelli, who shrugged, chalking it up to a very Maxie reply. "Pleased to hear that you are well, Stone Cold, and perhaps, you wouldn't mind if the Jackal invested in a steam cleaner?" he asked, patting the cushion gently.

"Why do we need a steam-" He stopped when his phone rang, slipping it from his pocket. "Hey, one second." He lowered it to his side, and Maxie craned her neck to get a look at the caller I.D., stopping only after he glared at her. "Buy whatever you want. I'll be upstairs."

Spinelli nodded, satisfied that if he moved quickly he could remove the stain and all would be well. "That went fairly well."

Maxie smirked, sitting on the edge of her chair. "What would you do without me, Spinelli?" she asked, shaking her head. "You have a mystery right under your nose, and you're blatantly ignoring it."

"If you are talking about the couch stain, I know how it got there-"

"Honestly, I don't want to hear the words you, stain, and furniture mentioned in the same sentence ever again," she interrupted, holding up her hand. "Now back to the mystery. Look at him. He's being nice and Jason is _never_ nice – maybe to _you_, but not to _me_."

"Well, Stone Cold has been under a lot of pressure these days. What with the hostility between the former brothers of organized crime, the threats of the Zacharra family-"

"And banging the daughter of the family jewels doesn't help," she cut in, in a scolding tone. "Too bad Jason doesn't have anyone around to guide him."

Spinelli nodded, frowning as he thought about everything that Jason had given up and lost over the past few months. He never quite recovered from Michael's shooting and having Elizabeth and the boys in his life would have helped, but he undoubtedly pushed them away for good.

"Perhaps, Stone Cold is moving on from the dark side, the sadness that has haunted him is fading and the mourning is over."

"Does that mean he'll take off that black t-shirt? He's been wearing it for way too long," she said seriously, shrugging when Spinelli just looked at her. "Seriously, does he just buy out the stock at Wyndams each time they come in?"

"I'll simply ask Stone Cold," he replied slowly, nodding as if to talk himself into it.

"Why he's happy? You're just going to ask him?"

"Are you suggesting that the Jackal tails him?"

"No way," she said, holding her hands up and waving them back and forth. "He kills people for a living, so you'd probably come across a scene and make yourself an accomplice and seeing as I'm going to have to help you with this, we are so not doing that."

"Then, the Jackal will ask Stone Cold, who will entrust him with a true answer."

"He _never_ talks."

"Sometimes to me."

"_Ever." _

Spinelli cleared his throat and sat up, smoothing his hand over his wrinkled shirt. "I'm the Jackal P.I.," he said smugly. "Stone Cold won't have a choice."

** Kelly's Diner **

Taking a deep breath, Spinelli repositioned his items on the table, careful to make the set-up look as normal as possible. He adjusted his orange soda, keeping the beverage strategically placed to where he could sip it a moment's notice – say if he got nervous and stumbled over his words, which was very likely. Opening his laptop, he pulled up the latest security information for the Morgan Organization, giving him a safe topic of conversation to revert to if all else failed, as well as a reason for the meeting.

Technically, if Spinelli wanted to, he could hack into Jason's cell phone records and know who his friend was talking to in a matter of seconds, but he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. Jason trusted him with his life and his secrets, and he would never do anything to break that. Besides going about it the old-fashioned way was rather fun and perhaps the Fair Maximista was onto something when she said Jason was his first mystery waiting to be solved.

Checking his watch – a must have for any P.I. in the making, certified, or otherwise – he saw that he had ten minutes before Jason would promptly arrive, never having been late for a business meeting – Well, except for a couple of weeks ago, and he'd shown his face for a few minutes before his phone rang, and he called it quits.

Oh, maybe the Fair Maximista was onto something.

"Hmm," he murmured, rubbing his hands together as he dug through his laptop bag and pulled out _Private Investigating For Dummies._ He cradled the book in his lap, making sure no one else in the diner could see the cover as he skimmed over the checklist at the back of the section about conducting an interrogation.

What To Do During An Interrogation

Eye contact is one of the most important aspects to an interrogation. – Always look your suspect in the eye. _(No one usually looked Jason Morgan in the eye, unless he was holding a gun and they were begging for their life.)_

_Moving on…_

Verbal and non-verbal indicators are important in convincing your suspect that you are actually listening. – Nod, smile, use positive words. _(Jason didn't care much for positivity, but if he started the conversation with good news about the business and veered off, perhaps it would work. Otherwise, he'd be staring down the barrel of a gun, perfectly capable of conducting number one.) _

_Next…_

Tape recorders are a prime way of proving whether or not your suspect is guilty, but there are several rules that must be remembered. When recording in secret, always place your tape in a well-hidden location that will not prevent any sound from being recorded or pick up too much background noise. Make sure your questions are as well heard on the tape as your suspect's answers… _(Hmm. Well, he most definitely wouldn't be recording Jason either, so…)_

Realizing that he could do none of the items on the list of what you must do, he decided to turn the page and skim over what you weren't supposed to do, telling himself that if he managed to at least avoid those things, he would be safe.

What Not To Do During An Interrogation

Never talk to anyone else while conversing with your suspect. _(This would be easy seeing as only the Fair Maximista would have the nerve to approach Spinelli and Jason while they were dining.)_

_One down…_

Don't tap your pen, pencil, or make any sound that would distract your suspect. _(Hmm. Well, that was never going to happen, but Jason would never see such as a distraction. In fact, if Spinelli were quiet, his dear friend and boss would surely know something was going on.)_

_Two for two…_

State your questions clearly so that the suspect in question understands. – In a case where they don't, simply reword, but don't stumble over your words and trip yourself up. _(Yet again, another area where Spinelli was safe because if he spoke normally to Jason, the mobster would surely know the hacker was pulling something on the sly.)_ Be prepared with questions. _(Hmmm.)_

_Almost three for the win…_

Checking his watch yet again, frowning at the weight of it on his wrist, he hurried to open a document on his desktop and write out a few questions.

So Stone Cold, you've been rather exuberant lately, any reason? _(No.) _

Stone Cold, we haven't had a chance to talk in a few days, you know with the Fair Maximista always at our place, and you running off to take phone calls. Are these business related? You know I worry about security. _(Too forceful?)_

Stone Cold, you're happy, and this is just…Well, why? _(Uh-uh.)_

Stone Cold, how are-

"Hey, what's going on?" Jason muttered, smacking Spinelli on the shoulder and causing him to jump, his hand hitting the glass of orange soda, which had not been as strategically placed as he imagined.

Thankfully, Jason's cat-like reflexes managed to grab the glass before it fell off the edge of the table. "You okay?"

_No, no, no. _

Jason couldn't ask the questions.

He was reversing roles. Oh, God.

_Did he know?_

"Funny you should ask," he murmured, glancing down at his computer screen, skimming over the poorly written questions. "How are you, Stone Cold?"

He arched an eyebrow, leather rubbing together in a very intimidating way as he tightened his shoulders. "I'm fine," he said agitatedly. "Is this why you asked me here?"

Spinelli shrugged, knowing he was failing fast. "Between _our_ women, we haven't been able to have any guy's time." He placed his hand on his chest, giving him a smug look. "You know, me with my laptop, you with your newspaper or remote….An orange soda and a beer…" He swallowed hard as he rambled, waiting anxiously for Jason to chime in.

"_Our women?"_ he asked, looking around the diner as if he was worried that someone would overhear their conversation.

He was asking questions again.

_Damn him._

No wonder the PCPD never implicated the man.

"Well, uh, Vixenella," he said, resting his elbow on the table and pointing at him with a slender finger. "The fundraiser – you two – grief sex – I understand, you've been through a lot. Losing Michael and the Maternal One, along with your box of secret pain and-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he hissed, letting out a heavy sigh as his cell phone rang. He jerked it from his pocket, his eyes softening at the caller ID, but he quickly ignored the call.

"One," he said, ticking items off on his fingers, "you shouldn't be discussing any of this in public. Two, I don't even want to know how you know about the shoebox in the closet downstairs, but if I ever find you looking in it, I will break your hands. And three, never mention _her_ unless we're at the penthouse. Does Maxie know about any of this?"

He shook his head, grimacing as Jason's glare hardened. "Stone Cold, she was just worried about you."

"Maxie was worried about me?" he asked, causing Spinelli to slump limply over the computer.

He tried to tell himself that Jason Morgan was not the typical suspect and had lots of experience with interrogations, and that he wasn't the worst P.I. alive and all his hopes and dreams weren't crashing.

Oh, no.

He was going to end up saving woodland creatures for the rest of his life.

"Well, yes," he said slowly, reaching for his soda and taking a long swig. "You're quiet one second, then questioning the Fair Maximista about how she feels, and it's just all very strange, Stone Cold."

"You like her, right?" he asked, and Spinelli barely bit his tongue about correcting Jason and his need to ask all the questions.

"Well, yes, the Jackal feels much admiration for the Fair Maximista, but why are you so concerned? Especially when the Jackal isn't allowed to be concerned where the Maternal One and your Secret Pain are-"

"I try to be nice to Maxie because you like her," Jason interrupted, shaking his head at the hacker's other comments. "I just told you not to speak about this-"

"Well, perhaps the Jackal should have set up such a meeting in the penthouse, but he didn't think Stone Cold would be on the defense."

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked seriously, looking him over. "Did you drink too many sodas or get a hold of some cold medicine again?"

"No, I am merely concerned for your well being," he replied, smacking a hand against his chest. "The grasshopper must always look out for his sensei, and I know that you've had a hard time this year, and suddenly you're not having so much of a hard time-"

"You don't need to worry about me," he cut in, glancing down at his phone as it rang again. Having studied Jason's mannerisms and reflexes enough, Spinelli could see that his boss was having a hard time not taking the call. "I can't change what happened to Michael, and I can't let it define everything. I'm just trying to live my life the best way I can."

He nodded dutifully, knowing that after this conversation he would be expected to drop the subjects mentioned altogether. "The Jackal is relieved that Stone Cold has found a way to live with never knowing his secret pain or sharing a life with his beloved, and I only hope that someday things can be different."

Jason swallowed hard, staring over Spinelli's shoulder as he nodded. "Me too."

His eyes brightened briefly as the bell above the diner door rang, and when Spinelli noticed his excitement, he shifted uncomfortably. Turning in his chair, he glanced over his shoulder, immediately understanding Jason's excitement. Elizabeth had stepped into the diner, looking as beautiful as every in a pair of light blue scrubs, her hair hanging down her back in thick curls. Her eyes widened as they met Spinelli's, and she hurried past them to the counter, barely giving Jason a second look.

Barely.

Those two weren't capable of _not_ looking at one another when they were five-hundred feet or closer.

"She looks lovely," Spinelli muttered, wanting to retract the statement when Jason's eyes narrowed in his direction. "Perhaps she's trying to impress the Prudent Practitioner, seeing as he's so wonderful with hearts and all."

"I don't know what you're trying to imply," he said, closing the laptop as he got up from the table.

"Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news Stone Cold," he said, lowering his voice as Elizabeth looked in their direction. "Just last week at the gala, the Fair Maximista and I came across the Maternal One in a compromising situation with the Prudent Practitioner – in the very same manner that we came across you and Vixenella, and well, we assumed-"

"She's not sleeping with Leo," he interrupted, tossing a glare in her direction, before starting to the door.

Spinelli shook his head, not surprised that Jason was so jealous over Elizabeth when he'd been pining for her this long. He had to understand that she wasn't going to go on and not find someone else, and of course, Jason would do the same, but getting involved with the mob daughter of the enemy was not smart by any means.

"Also," Jason snarled, grabbing him by his collar and pulling him back, "I am _not_ sleeping with Claudia Zacharra."

He released Spinelli, patted him on the shoulder, and gave Elizabeth another look before disappearing out the door.

Sighing, he reached for his soda and drank it down until there was nothing but that awful straw sucking noise that the Fair Maximista was always scolding him about. He pushed his chair back and got up from the table as he tossed his bag over his shoulder, sliding his computer under one arm. He started for the door, but stopped when he noticed an offending stain from the corner of his eyes on the back of Elizabeth's scrubs. And he felt obligated to point such a thing out to her; after all Jason would want him watching out for his former lady companion.

"Good day, Maternal One," he murmured, approaching the counter and grinning widely.

"Spinelli," she said, counting out change as she glanced at her tab.

"Uh, the Jackal doesn't wish to embarrass the Maternal One, but there is a stain of some kind on the back of your jeans, and…"

"Oh, God," she cried, sliding her hand over the back of a thigh. "I meant to go home and change, but of course, I forgot." Her face flushed as she craned her neck to look at the back of her pants. "How bad is it?"

"It's dark, quite orange," he shrugged, pushing himself away from the counter. "Do the innocent ones crave orange soda like I? The caffeine can wreck havoc on their tiny bodies."

"Yeah," she nodded, pushing her money across the counter as she grabbed her paper bag. "Something like that. Boys and their needs, you know…" She adjusted her purse over her shoulder and backed away, giving him an uncomfortable smile. "Thank you, uh, I'll have to make sure…Cam…Cameron is…more careful with…his juice."

"Anytime," he replied, waving goodbye as she rushed out of the diner, one hand pressed against the back of her thigh.

How in the world the tiny tot had gotten juice in such a place, he didn't want to know. Children were rumored to be messy little creatures, not like he knew or anything. The closest he ever came was to the Innocent One, who he most definitely wouldn't be getting close to anytime soon. Neither would Jason, which saddened him greatly, because he would have been an amazing father.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, the familiar ring tone that said something about lovely lady lumps filling the diner. Maxie had insisted on him using such a song, and Jason had questioned him about downloading the song when the company phone bill came last month.

"Jackal," he answered glumly, knowing

"Uh, oh. You don't sound pleased. I take it things didn't go well with Jason."

"Interrogation Round One: _Massive Failure_."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Harbor View Towers, Penthouse 2 **

"Wait, wait, wait," Maxie frowned, lifting her head from the couch arm and looking up at Spinelli as he paced back and forth behind the couch. "You actually asked if he was sleeping with Claudia Zacharra?"

"Erm, well…" He scratched his head in confusion as he sat down on the back of the couch. "I thought if Stone Cold knew that I knew about his extracurricular activities-"

"He doesn't want anyone to know," she cried, pulling herself up on the couch and tucking her legs beneath her. "You know nothing about having affairs."

"Stone Cold is not-"

"What did he say?" she interrupted, rolling her eyes.

Even if her best friend couldn't see it, all of the signs were there. He was sneaking away each time his cell phone rang and wearing secretive smiles, not to mention he'd been asking them how they were each time he'd seen them in the last week. She just couldn't shake the creepy feeling she got when Jason Morgan smiled at her, and she wondered if he ever did that to the men he went after. It was surely enough to stop them in their tracks.

There were also the subtle clues left everywhere. Last week, he'd put on a tuxedo in honor of his sister and tonight he was going to wear one to the Nurse's Ball. When Maxie asked him who he was dressing up for, he'd smirked and disappeared upstairs, and that smirk had been worth a thousand words.

_And a single possibility. _

Maxie knew the face of a satisfied man, and Jason Morgan definitely fit into that category. Coffee beans did not a make a man that happy, and neither did the power and money that came with being the don of Port Charles, unless you were Sonny Corinthos, but Jason never required his ego to be stroked as much as his former boss. No, he most definitely needed other things stroked to stay happy, and she wasn't going to complain. The personality shift was just going to take some getting used to.

"Stone Cold said he was, in fact, not sleeping with Vixenella," he answered, like that was supposed to make some kind of difference.

"Just because someone says they aren't sleeping with someone doesn't mean it's not true," she replied matter-of-factly, placing a hand against her chest. "I should know."

"Besides," she continued, brushing her hair from her face. "Claudia is the ideal woman for a man like Jason. She's just as cold and cruel, and she lives the same lifestyle, so why-" She paused when Jason came down the stairs, his tuxedo bag in hand.

He glared at them at the sudden silence as he tossed the bag onto the desk and picked up the landline. Leave it to Jason to make such a brooding entrance, though she didn't want it any other way. Why have someone around who could steal any of her thunder?

"I won't be making it tonight," he murmured into the receiver, scratching a hand over his brow as he glanced at them from the corner of his eye. "What? Yeah, take the night off and go to the ball with Diane. Huh? No, no, just make some kind of donation in my name, Max. Yeah, I've got other plans."

With that he hung up the phone and started to head back upstairs, but Maxie was never one to bite her tongue.

"You're not going to the Nurse's Ball?" she asked curiously, drumming her fingers on the back of the couch. Spinelli winced at her question, but she just rolled her eyes. "I knew seeing Jason Morgan in a tuxedo twice in one month was just too good to be true."

He scowled as he leaned against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, his gaze on Spinelli. "Make her stop listening to my phone calls."

"Stone Cold, the Fair Maximista meant no harm. Perhaps, she was looking forward to seeing you all…" His voice trailed off when he realized his defense wasn't coming off the way he wanted.

"You don't have to defend me," she said, pushing herself up from the couch as she walked over to Jason. "If you don't want people to listen, maybe you should have had the conversation in a more private setting."

"I left my cell phone…" Groaning, he shook his head, and glared at Spinelli. "Kitchen now, please."

Maxie laughed, wondering just where he had left his cell phone, and she would have asked if the two men hadn't hurried out of the room. Jason snarled over his shoulder that Maxie should remain behind.

"Men are so stupid," she muttered, waltzing over to Jason's desk and tugging the zipper down on the bag.

She wasn't sure what she expected to find, but it seemed a likely place to hide something. Spinelli was so damn persistent that Jason wasn't sleeping with Claudia, and maybe he was right seeing as he was Jason's best friend and all, but the kingpin was definitely sleeping with someone.

Sighing heavily at the sight of a tuxedo and nothing more, she zipped the bag closed and looked around the penthouse. She couldn't remember ever being alone before and imagined that Jason had all kinds of secrets in his closets – not that she necessarily wanted to find them, but she didn't think he'd hide dead bodies under the couch or anything.

Or at least she hoped.

They would stink up the place, even if he plastic wrapped them or something. It wasn't very mob-like of him to store bodies where he slept anyway. They probably kept a crypt or used the harbor, and _ew_, she felt dirty just thinking about it.

"She has to stop being so damn nosey!" Jason barked from the kitchen, and Maxie bit back a snicker as Spinelli told him this was just how she was and he wasn't going to make her leave.

"Ha, Morgan," she murmured, pulling open one of his desk drawers and poking around.

She was disappointed to find that he literally had nothing but office supplies; some pens, post-its, a hole punch. None of which seemed likely for him to use. However, this was Jason Morgan, and if MacGyver could surely make a bomb from a paper clip and a roll of duct tape, he could surely kill someone with a post-it. She might be inclined to see such an incident, but considering what would most likely entail afterwards, she'd rather not.

"I know you like her, and she's your friend, but this is my home too," Jason argued, his voice booming through the penthouse. She wondered if he wanted her to hear this, that maybe if Maxie thought she was breaking up the two boys she'd be kinder.

_Oh, please. _

Grinning, Maxie slipped something from the desk drawer and pushed it closed with her hip. She tossed the keys to his Escalade around in her hands, trying to remember something she'd read in one of those PI books of Spinelli's. Something about a glove box being a goldmine of information? If only she'd paid attention about note taking and all that in school.

"Whatever, I am not arguing about this anymore. Just keep her in your bedroom or something," Jason growled, and Spinelli started to spit and sputter in response, starting the fight all over again.

Maxie huffed under her breath as she tucked the keys into her pocket, fighting the urge to march into the kitchen and tell Jason she wasn't a damn dog that could be kept in a cage. Instead, she tipped her head towards the closet door, remembering more of that article.

"Spinelli!" Jason shouted, and she giggled as she envisioned the vein in his neck popping out.

"Let's see," she said, easing the door open carefully as if they could hear the creaking over their voices.

Her eyes quickly roamed over the shelf that was stacked with boxes, probably containing guns, or worse, body parts, so she sure as hell wasn't going there.

"Perfect," she whispered, her eyes landing on Jason's token leather jacket that he never went without.

Pausing to make sure they were still arguing, she desperately searched the pockets, groaning when she found nothing, but then realized there was probably a pocket on the inside.

"Bingo," she grinned, slipping his wallet from the pocket and kicking the door closed just as the men came rushing back into the living room.

"You boys aren't breaking up, are you?" she asked, clutching the wallet safely behind her back.

"Just stay out of my shit," Jason growled, gently shoving her aside to jerk open the closet door and grab his jacket. "Don't listen to my shit, and don't lay your damn hands on it."

"You have a nice day too," she sang sweetly, turning to follow him and hide the wallet as he headed out of the penthouse, slamming the door behind him.

"The Jackal wishes to apologize for all that the Fair Maximista may have overheard. Stone Cold just isn't used to having the opposite sex around and it makes him quite inept-"

"Yeah, whatever," she cut him off, rushing over to the door and flicking the lock.

"Oh. My. God," Spinelli cried, clasping a hand over his mouth. "Please tell me that is not Stone Cold's well-worn, leather wallet in your grasp."

"Don't act so innocent," she replied, rolling her eyes as she leaned against the desk and opened it up. "I told you, I've read some of that stuff you always have lying around, and if you want to figure out if Jason is really screwing Claudia Zacharra, this is a sure-fire way."

"Fair Maximista, the Jackal doesn't know whether or not he should be disturbed by your sudden interest in Stone Cold's extracurricular activities," he said, clenching his fists and frowning as she slid several cards from the pockets.

"So, we've got a driver's license – goodness, what a terrible picture," she murmured, barely hearing a word her friend was saying. "Credit cards – ooo, an American Express Black card, what I wouldn't give for one of these. Do you think Jason would notice if I borrowed this and went to the boutique at the Metro Court? Does he even check his bills?"

"Maximista, you-"

"I imagine with as much money as he keeps in that damn shiny clip of his, he probably just signs a check and mails it off without thinking," she said, flipping through a never-ending stack of credit cards.

"You cannot possiblly steal Stone Cold's card and-"

"Relax," she interrupted, waving her hand at him. "I am not going shopping on his dime, though it's not like he doesn't owe me a shopping spree or two." She grunted, flashing Spinelli his concealed weapons license. "How many guns does he carry at one time? And where?"

He gasped, holding his clenched fists to his mouth, unable to respond.

"I was just curious," she shrugged, sliding the cards back into their places and fanning the wallet open.

"I don't know what the Maximista expects to find," Spinelli said, his eyes widening as something fell from the wallet, but she failed to notice. "I, uh, I told you that Stone Cold is not sleeping with Vixenella-"

"Well, he's having sex with someone," she murmured, holding up a condom – _not Enduro._

"Perhaps Stone Cold just wishes to be prepared."

She grunted, shaking her head. "Oh, Spinelli, a man like Jason doesn't carry around condoms and not use them."

He frowned, not sure how to reply and dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Hey, what have you got there!" she exclaimed, glancing down at her friend as he stooped to pick up what had fallen out.

Spinelli's eyes widened and he quickly folded it in half, stuffing it in his pants before Maxie could take it.

"What the hell?" she cried, her hands on her hips.

"It is not something Maximista should ever see," he replied seriously, folding his arms across his chest.

He looked at her so intensely she was suddenly afraid, and scolded herself for ever stealing the mobster's wallet in the first place. _God, she was such an idiot._ Who knew what Spinelli was holding? It was probably some dirty photograph of the last guy Jason killed or maybe it was someone with a hit.

"Oh, god," she cried, when she heard keys in the lock.

She tossed the wallet to Spinelli, who immediately jumped back, then forward to catch it at the same time as Maxie. They slammed against one another, and somehow Maxie ended up below Spinelli on the floor, the wallet pressed into the small of her back, just as the door swung open.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Jason hissed, glaring at them in their disheveled state.

"Oh, well," Maxie murmured, giggling through her nerves, having never been so relieved to appear in such a situation. "We were just, uh…"

Actually, it may have been the first time that a man had been on top of her and she wasn't seducing him, and that brought all kinds of amusement to her, but she didn't have a chance to laugh because Spinelli was scurrying off of her. He not so subtly slid his hand beneath her, and she arched her hips up off the floor as he slid Jason's wallet into her back pocket.

"Forgive me, Maximista," Spinelli panted, trying to catch a breath as panic spread over his face.

"It's okay," she purred, reaching out to touch his arm. "I know you can't resist me."

"I can't find my wallet," Jason muttered, pushing past them and hurrying up the stairs. "She needs to be gone soon."

Maxie didn't even have to bite back a reply because she was too horrified to say anything. "Here," she said, pulling the wallet from her back pocket and handing it to Spinelli.

"What am I supposed to do with it?"

"First, put whatever thing fell out of it back in there, and then…throw it on the closet floor. He'll think it fell out," she said, wiping her hands on her jeans as if to get rid of what she'd just done. "I have to go get ready for the Nurse's Ball. I'll see you later."

She grabbed her purse and hurried out of the penthouse, leaving Spinelli alone to fend for himself.

Sighing, he slipped the folded up photograph from his pocket, opening it briefly to smile sadly at the picture of Elizabeth and Jake, before stuffing it into the wallet. Doing just as Maxie suggested, he opened the closet door and tossed it on the floor.

"Did you find it?" Jason asked, appearing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Uh, yeah, I was just, uh, the floor," he replied, leaning over and picking it up.

"Thanks," Jason replied, grabbing the wallet and heading for the door. He stopped briefly, looking over at Spinelli. "Don't _ever_ have sex on my floor."

**Harbor View Towers, Parking Garage **

Maxie winced as she scraped her elbow against something jagged in the back of Jason's black Escalade. She let out a low gasp, craning her neck to peer over the back seat at the guard as he started the engine. She'd waited patiently for Jason to come down to the garage, hop on his bike, and peel out – going dangerously fast and without a helmet. For someone who had hurt his head in a car accident, he didn't seem to care much about the possibility of it happening again.

But _whatever_, it was his choice.

She'd waited an additional ten minutes to make sure he wasn't coming back before climbing into his SUV and closing the door behind her. She dug through the glove box that was stuffed with papers and receipts – one for a room at the Metro Court and another for a tab at Jake's, and she shoved them all into her purse for later inspection, doubting that Jason would miss them that much.

Thankfully the windows were so tinted that the guard hadn't noticed Maxie as he approached, giving her time to climb over the back seat and hurl herself into the very back, injuring her elbow in the process. In retrospect, she should have told Spinelli what she was doing, even if he would have tried to stop her. But now that she was sitting in the back of an SUV going God knows where, she really wished her best friend had been beside her.

"Oh, hell," she whispered, when the radio came on, first blaring classical music and then changing to something that sounded very much like Britney Spears, but she figured it was probably that damn Miley Cyrus.

That girl was such a whore.

Leave it to Jason to employ a bodyguard who was just as much on the Disney train as the rest of America. Seriously, didn't he do background checks on these men? She untangled her purse from beneath her and dug through it for her cell phone, immediately sending a text message to Spinelli.

_HELP NOW!!_

She cringed as the radio became louder, the speaker blaring right next to her ear, and she barely heard her cell phone ringing.

"Spinelli!" she hissed, pressing the phone against her ear. "You shouldn't have called me!"

"You needed help," he replied, and she could barely hear him. "So the Jackal-"

"I'm stuck in the back of Jason's SUV and some damn guard is listening to Disney music and-"

"Why are you in the back of-"

"Well, I decided like his wallet to check his car, and I found some hotel stuff, but oh God, what was I thinking? This PI stuff is getting me into trouble, and it's entirely your fault!" she spat, as the car lurched to a sudden stop.

She knew what was happening the second the radio shut off and the driver door slammed shut. She snapped her phone closed and started to climb over the back of the seat, but the trunk opened before she could and the guard grabbed her by the legs, tugging her out of it.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" she screamed, kicking him in the groin as she slid out. "Grabbing a poor, defenseless woman like that!"

"Maxie," the man groaned, clutching himself and falling to the ground.

"Milo!" she cried, dropping to her knees when she recognized the guard. "Oh, gosh. I hope I didn't hurt you too badly." He glared at her, his face beet red. "Well, that look leaves a lot to be desired, and how in the hell did you hear me over that terrible music?"

"It's part of being a good guard," he replied, pushing himself to his feet and smacking her hands away. "What were you doing in Jason's car?"

"Oh, well, you know…" Her phone rang and she quickly hit ignore, knowing it was Spinelli. "Milo, come on. Do you really have to ask?"

"Yeah, you broke into Jason's SUV, and I don't even want to know how or why, and I'm going to have to report-"

"But you can't!" she cried, holding a hand over her mouth as panic set in. Milo wasn't the smartest man she knew, and there had to be some way she could work him. "Please, it would just be so embarrassing."

"Or Jason would finally ban you from the penthouse like he's wanted to do for months now."

Her mouth fell open in disgust, and she planted her hands firmly on her hips. "Well too bad. I'm not going anywhere, and you sure as hell aren't going to tell him I was in his car."

"What makes you so sure?" he asked, arching his eyebrows.

Sighing, Maxie took a deep breath and lunged forward, throwing her arms around the guard's neck and kissing him hard. "I think that will do," she replied sweetly, grinning as he looked down at her with wide eyes. He looked stunned, drunk even, and she couldn't help but laugh. "And if not, I'll just tell everyone – Jason, your brother, all the stupid guards, even that dreadful Lulu – that you like Miley Cyrus."

His face turned red with embarrassment, and he started to argue, but stopped when Maxie started ranting again. "Spinelli could put this all over the web. Could you imagine?" she asked, holding up her cell phone. "I may have even recorded a bar or two, and once I pass it on to him, all the guys you work with will have it as their ring tone for you."

"Point taken, Maxie," he hissed, slamming the trunk closed. "If I catch you near this car again, I'm telling Jason."

"I can agree to that," she replied, knowing she would never climb inside one of his cars – or anything belonging to Jason for that matter – for as long as she lived. Milo held out his hand. "What?"

"The keys that you somehow stole – Does Spinelli know about-"

"No," she interrupted, digging through her purse for the keys. "He doesn't. So don't you dare go blaming this on him or else I'll be forced to say things you won't like." Rolling his eyes, he started to grab the keys, but she jerked them away. "Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes," he snarked, and she dropped the keys into his hand. He turned away and hurried back to the car and climbed inside. "I understand that you were in Jason's car and you weren't supposed to be, so you can understand why I think you need to get your own ride home."

"Milo!" she shouted, chasing after the SUV as he peeled away from the corner, leaving her to realize that she was just on the outskirts of town, entirely too far to walk. "I am going to get you for this, you asshole!"

Gritting her teeth, she paced back and forth for a few minutes, not sure exactly what to do when her phone rang. "Spinelli!" she cried, relieved that for once his incessant calling paid off. "Get your butt into your car immediately! Milo just dumped me on the side of the road at the bottom of the cliffs, and if I walk back to town in my new Jimmy Choos they'll be completely ruined, and I won't have time to get ready for the Nurse's Ball."

She hung up before he could reply, tossing her phone back into her purse as she settled down on a somewhat clean patchy area of grass. At least she was wearing blue jeans and not some fabulous skirt that cost a fortune.

Oh, she was going to make that stupid guard pay!

"Well," she said, pulling out the wad of papers she'd taken from Jason's glove box.

It was mostly receipts like she saw when she first opened the glove box, and it wasn't like it was important to see what Jason was buying from the pharmacy – though she couldn't help but notice that yes, he was buying condoms in bulk.

"Not having sex," she huffed, wondering if she would ever be able to break down Spinelli's innocence without throwing him down on the couch and taking it from him. "Huh."

She quickly forgot about stealing her best friend's innocence when she noticed a used hot chocolate packet amidst all the papers and a folded up handwritten note. _Thank you for always thinking of me and know that I am always thinking of you._ The scrawl looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it, and the words told her nothing, except that someone _did_ in fact love Jason Morgan. And despite the fact that he was a big annoying ogre, she couldn't help but think that it was a little sweet.

Because even ogres needed to be loved.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

** Elm Street Pier **

"Where in the hell did he go so fast?" Maxie snapped, glaring at Spinelli as she paced back and forth on the docks, her eyes sweeping around the area.

He shrugged half-heartedly, not wanting to upset Maxie any more than she already was, mostly because he was afraid of what she was going to do next.

When he made it to the edge of town and found her standing barefoot, her overpriced heels in her hand, she'd hopped right into his car and started berating Milo, who was just doing his job. Not that Spinelli was going to tell her that. Instead he listened to her go on and on about his cheap suits and love for Disney radio and Miley Cyrus. He had no idea who this Miley person was, but Maxie continuously called her a tramp, so he assumed it was some woman the guard had picked up from Jake's.

On the ride back to town, they'd somehow ended up two cars behind Jason at a red light and Maxie had insisted they follow him because she had a thing or two to tell him about his employees. Spinelli tried to remind her about the ball, but she pointed out that it wouldn't be much different than the benefit for Emily. They'd have to sit with stupid Lulu and her overly hot boyfriend, while Kate stroked Sonny's ego, and she'd rather find out who Jason was sleeping with.

How in the world his best friend had gotten so obsessed with his boss he would never know. Unless…_No._ Maxie would never take to a man like Jason. He was brooding and bossy, two qualities she absolutely detested – hence, her strong liking of Spinelli. And there was also the fact that he was a terrible dresser – her words, not his – and Jason would never let Maxie dress him.

"Fair Maximista, the Jackal feels it isn't safe to be on the docks after dark, and perhaps-"

"Don't you want to know who that damn man is sleeping with?" she interrupted, her hands on her hips. "I don't like secrets, and I sure as hell don't like when the people in my life have them."

"Well, you're more in the Jackal's life than Stone Cold's, and need I remind you what kind of secrets lie within his world?" he asked, knowing there was no way he could convince her otherwise.

"This is a sex secret, and they are the best and worst possible kind," she replied seriously, pausing her pacing as she tipped her head in his direction. "Or do you already know?" Her face hardened and she clenched her jaw. "Do you know who he's sleeping with? How dare you withhold information like this! If we're going to be a PI team you must-"

"The Jackal has no knowledge of Stone Cold's personal life," he cut in, shaking his head firmly. "And honestly, he doesn't wish to know who his friend takes to bed, nor does he understand why the Fair Maximista cares so much?"

"Because Jason is a man, and he thinks with his penis," she answered dramatically, rolling her eyes. "For example, don't you think it's dangerous for someone like Jason to sleep with Claudia Zacharra? Sure, she's his type, but the more I think about it, she could get him killed by that crazy father of hers."

"You would care if Stone Cold died?" he asked curiously, more concerned by Maxie's fear for Jason's life than anything else.

"Of course," she replied, giving him a blank look. "Spinelli, he's your best friend. If he dies, you'll be all sad, and I couldn't take that. Besides, who else is good enough to look after you when I'm not around? Jason can barely handle taking care of you for a few hours a day, and without him you'd just wither away to nothing, and I'd worry about you every second – even more than I already do."

Spinelli smiled softly, his heart tightening in his chest. "You worry about the Jackal?"

"Yes, silly. You're my best friend," she replied, walking over and placing her hands on his shoulders. He tried to hide his fallen face at her words, unable to help that he would always hope best friend would be replaced with something else like love of her life. "I couldn't stand it if anything happened to you."

She dropped her hands seconds later and looked around the docks. "Now where did that stupid man go?" she asked, shaking her head.

They'd not-so-subtly followed Jason to the docks, where he parked his bike in an alley. Spinelli was sure that he would recognize the car and they'd be caught, but thankfully Jason's phone rang as he slipped off the bike, and he was distracted.

As if on cue, they heard someone coming out of the alley at the top of the docks. Maxie flung herself at Spinelli and knocked him on the ground in her attempt for them to hide.

"Yeah, I understand," echoed Jason's voice off the brick walls. "No, it's okay. You get him taken care of, go to the ball, and I'll see you in a couple of hours. If I hadn't already returned my tux, I'd be on my way there now." He paused to laugh, and Maxie, who was still lying on top of Spinelli, looked at him in disbelief. "No, I don't keep them on hand. Yeah, just stop. Okay, I'll see you later. I love you."

Maxie's eyes widened and her face broke into a grin as she mouthed, _I love you. _It took him a second to realize she was repeating what Jason said and not confessing her devotions.

Spinelli was busy fighting to breathe as her elbow dug into his neck, not to mention the overwhelming fear that Jason might come down the stairs any minute and see them in what appeared to be a compromising position.

_Oh, if only it really was. _

Sliding her body off of his, Maxie craned her neck to look up at the top of the docks, before moving to her feet. "He's gone," she said, holding her hand out to Spinelli to help pull him up. He was so busy reveling in the softness of her palm that he barely caught onto what she was saying. "…I think it's all sorts of romantic."

"What?" he asked, dropping his gaze to his hand that was still in hers.

"Jason having some secret woman," she replied, squeezing his hand as she grinned. "He tries so hard to be this big tough guy, but he really does have a heart. It's a prime example of bad people needing to be loved. I understand that very much."

"Aw, but Fair Maximista, you are anything except a bad-"

"Really, Spinelli," she interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I know you think I'm wonderful, and usually I like to hear it, but we've got a ball to get to."

"The ball?" he asked, his head spinning as she tightly held his hand and pulled him towards the stairs.

"Yes," she replied, shaking her head at him for not understanding her logic. "Jason's little friend is going to be there, and if we're going by the PI books, it's time we rounded up our suspects."

**Grand Ballroom, Metro Court Hotel**

Since moving to Port Charles, Spinelli had been to more black tie affairs than he ever imagined he would. The shoes hurt his feet, the material itched his body, and he hated the tight collars around his neck. Not to mention that his day-to-day ineptness made such situations extremely nerve-racking and uncomfortable.

Normally, he would shy away from such parties, but with Maxie on his arm, he found the swagger and charm he never knew existed. She gave him a newfound sense of confidence, and aside from times when he became verbally challenged, she was capable of holding him together.

"The Fair Maximista looks quite stunning," he murmured, looking over at her as she gave him an appreciative smile.

"Thank you, Spinelli," she replied, squeezing his arm as they entered the ballroom just as one of the musical numbers ended. "It's the first dress I've managed to buy for myself since starting to work for Kate." She winked, nudging him with her elbow. "That means you can spill orange soda all over it, and I may not kill you."

She smoothed a hand over the front of the off-the-shoulder, navy blue gown that clung to her tightly, belling out just a bit at her ankles. The material shimmered beneath the lighting of the room, and Spinelli wondered if he'd ever love another woman this much.

"Gosh, Carly really did a great job," Maxie muttered in disbelief, grabbing a glass of champagne as one of the waiters passed them. "I still don't know how she convinced Nikolas and the rest of the staff to allow her to host the ball. It's such a break from tradition. I'm not sure what to think about it." She paused to take a sip from her flute, her eyes lighting up. "Do you think she's sleeping with Jason?"

"Never," he replied flatly, and she immediately nodded in agreement.

"I mean, been there, done that, and something tells me that after she's been with Sonny that's a no go, though it wouldn't be the first time that he's taken sloppy seconds," she said, tugging him in the direction of Kate's table.

"Sloppy seconds?" Spinelli asked confused. Clearly Maxie knew far more about Jason's love life than he did, and he was still trying to figure out how he felt about that.

"Yeah, AJ, his dead brother – Jason totally slept with and married AJ's wife, Courtney," she shrugged, taking another drink of her champagne. "Juicy, huh?"

"The Jackal didn't know Stone Cold was privy to sharing," Spinelli murmured, pulling out her chair.

"Something tells me if the roles were reversed, he would have definitely put AJ in his place," she sighed, flashing a wide smile as she sat down at the table. "I apologize for our tardiness, Kate. We had an issue on the way over."

"Not a problem at all Maxie," her boss replied, rolling her eyes when Sonny huffed beside her. Spinelli really had no idea why the man disliked him so much. Surely, he wasn't _that_ jealous of his relationship with Stone Cold. "These events are all about making an entrance and in a dress like that, I'd say you've done well."

"Thank you," she said, all too pleased. Her smile faded as she glanced over at Lulu, who was sulking beside Johnny. "Aw, did you finally realize that your boyfriend would rather be anywhere but with you?"

"You're just jealous that I have someone who wants to be with me, and isn't around because he pities me," she replied, scooting her chair back as she got up from the table. "Come on, Johnny. Let's go dance."

Sighing, her boyfriend got up from the table and obediently followed. Maxie turned to Spinelli, taking a deep breath in preparation of a rant, something he'd learned to be a routine, but he stopped her.

"Fair Maximista, for one evening we should let the Blonde One go," he said hesitantly, not wanting her to think he was taking Lulu's side. "After all, we have a purpose."

"You're right," she replied gleefully, looking around the ballroom. "We just have to keep an eye out for any woman who leaves within the next…" She paused, pulling her cell phone from her purse to check the time. "Thirty minutes."

**Hallway outside of the Grand Ballroom**

"I know, Lucky," Sam murmured, her phone pressed to her ear as she paced the length of the hallway. "I hate that you were sick tonight too. Though I'm sure Elizabeth couldn't be happier that you caught whatever virus Cameron has. Yeah, I know I have to stop saying stuff like that. It just makes me so mad. She's here tonight, you know?"

Maxie leaned against the doorway of the ballroom, straining to hear the rest of Sam's phone call. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop on her friend's phone call, but seeing as she was supposed to be spying on anyone who may be sleeping with Jason, she couldn't play favorites. After all, Jason had plainly told whoever he was talking to take care of someone, a someone who was a male, and then to go to the ball, and he would see them later.

_Was he seriously sleeping with Sam again? _

Smirking, she couldn't help but think that Lucky deserved to be left behind, even if she was part of the reason their relationship continued for so long. But when she really thought about it, she almost felt bad because it would be the second time that Jason Morgan had stolen yet another one of his women.

Sam laughed, her lips curling into a smile. "I know. I can't wait until you're better too. Yeah, I'm going to stay at my mother's tonight since you're so afraid of me catching whatever you have. Okay, I'll call you later."

With that she closed her phone and dropped it into her clutch purse and headed towards the lobby – not the ballroom, leaving Maxie highly suspicious. Sighing, she glanced around for Spinelli who was nowhere in sight.

_Damn that boy. _

Oh well, she had a lead, and she supposed she'd have to follow it without him. This time she just wouldn't climb into any cars that weren't hers.

**Grand Ballroom Bar, Metro Court Hotel**

"I don't know why you put up with her, John," Claudia Zacharra murmured, twirling the olive from her martini around on its toothpick. She slid it into her mouth, sliding the olive off, and chewed intently. "She's just so stiff."

"I'm not listening to this," he muttered, taking a drink from his short glass of whiskey and glaring at his sister. "I hear enough of this from our father. Can't you just be happy that I'm happy?"

She arched an eyebrow and snickered softly as she pointed at him. "This is you happy? Wow, John. I must have missed the invite to the party. Or let me guess, things are different when you're alone right?"

"Maybe if you managed to find someone who loved you, you'd feel differently."

"Forgive me," she laughed, polishing off her martini as she grinned. "I forget that this is all about love. I find all I need at a bar with a few good drinks and an attractive man."

"I don't want to hear this," he scowled, tapping his fingers against the bar.

"Just take a word of advice from your dear sister," she said, sliding her arm around his shoulder. "It's a lot more fun when you get to kick them out of bed afterwards or leave them with the hotel tab." She paused, glancing at the diamond watch on her wrist. "That reminds me. I have somewhere to be in a few minutes."

Johnny rolled his eyes as Spinelli approached, doing his best to slide onto a bar stool without being noticed. Unfortunately his foot caught in the stool somehow, and he tumbled into Claudia, his hands gripping the fabric of her gown as he fell to the floor. When he heard the all too distinct sound of the material tearing, he curled into a ball on the floor.

"What the hell?" she cried, clutching the skirt of her dress as she turned around. "Are you okay?"

"The Jackal apologizes to Vixenella for ruining her designer-"

"Are you okay?" she repeated, rolling him over onto his back and cradling his face in between her hands. "Are you just drunk? Or do I need to get a medic?"

"I'm afraid that the Jackal is just prone to embarrassing himself," he murmured sadly, allowing her to pull him to his feet.

"Spinelli, right?" she asked, furrowing her brow as she tried to remember. "You're Jason's little friend."

"Uh, yes, I am Stone Cold's-"

"I thought so," she cut in, flashing him a flirty grin. "How is he doing? I haven't seen him since the benefit last week, and I figured that donating a hefty check in his sister's honor would get him to lighten up. He doesn't ever lighten up, does he?"

"Er, that is Stone Cold's day-to-day personality," he replied, squirming as she brushed her hands over his tuxedo to dust him off. She came all too close to a very specific region, and he stumbled backwards, falling against the bar. "The Jackal apologizes for the gown and will gladly replace it, but now he must go. You know where I live!"

He turned, hurrying away from the bar as Claudia cackled behind him, and he desperately searched for Maxie, unsure of whether or not he had just incriminated or freed the woman as a suspect.

**Front Lobby, Metro Court Hotel**

"Well, shit," Maxie fussed, having lost Sam by the time she got to the lobby. She'd hurried out to the parking lot and saw no sign of the woman, but her car was still in the lot, so she had to be in the building.

_Unless…_

"Marty!" she exclaimed, rushing over to the front desk. "I need a room number of someone I think is a guest."

"You think is a guest?" he asked, looking up from the computer.

"Well, I'm assuming she or he is here," she replied, setting her purse on the counter and digging through it. It was filled with the papers she'd taken from Jason's glove box because she'd hope to get a chance to show what she found to Spinelli. "You see, I have something really important that they both need."

"You have something that someone needs?" he asked in disbelief.

"Oh, stop. Yes, in fact, I'll show you…" She paused, digging through the pile of crap she'd just dumped onto the desk. "Yes, this!"

Marty's eyes went wide as he looked at her. "A condom?"

"Yes," she replied dumbly, rolling her eyes. "I'm well aware that you can get condoms in some of the men's bathrooms in this building, but they are Enduro, and those can't be trusted. They need this condom or else there might be tiny babies running around-"

"Maximistia!" Spinelli cried, stepping off the elevator.

She swore under her breath, loving that Spinelli had shown up, but strongly disliking his timing. "Can you just tell me if Sam McCall or Jason Morgan has a room here?" she hissed in a low voice. "The last thing she needs is to get knocked up by a mobster. I'm doing my friend a-"

"The Jackal has information that he must share," Spinelli interrupted, bracing one hand against the desk to hold himself up.

"What happened to you?" she asked, grimacing as she looked him over. His face was bright red and he was sweating more than he usually did when he was nervous. "Did you get into trouble upstairs? Spinelli, I left you alone for all of ten minutes."

"I've managed to collect evidence," he replied seriously, glancing at Marty from the corner of his eye.

"Me too," she said excitedly, slapping him on the arm. "Unfortunately I lost Sam before I got the chance to follow her – I mean, give her the condom she needed for sex." She paused, flashing Marty a flirty grin. "Are you going to tell me if they're here or not?"

"Stone Cold is not sleeping with the Once Fair Samantha," he replied seriously, but she just rolled her eyes and turned back to Marty.

"Well?" she asked, one hand on her hip.

"They aren't here," he replied, narrowing his eyes at her. "And if you tell anyone I gave you this information-"

"Oh, relax. Carly's not going to fire you," she interrupted. "You're one of the few people that puts up with incessant harping." Grabbing Spinelli's hand, she pulled him away from the desk and towards the front doors, determined to find Sam. "I overheard Sam on the phone, and she was talking about Lucky being sick, and then she just took off."

"Perhaps, the Once Fair Samantha wishes to take care of the Dishonorable Detective?"

"Fat chance," she replied, giving him a grin that reflected how totally awesome she thought she was. "On the phone, Jason told whoever he was talking to that they should just take care of _him_ and he'd be waiting."

Spinelli's eyes lit up and he let out a gasp as she pushed open the doors leading to the front of the hotel. "The Jackal bumped into Vixenella at the bar, and she was speaking about how she enjoys kicking a man out of bed, and I would assume Stone Cold would feel the same way about her. But then she said she hadn't been in contact with Stone Cold since last week."

Maxie froze at the curb and looked over at him. "Contact as in seen? Or spoke?"

"Vixenella was curious as to how Stone Cold was doing, so perhaps…"

"Spinelli, you did so well!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck and practically knocking him over.

"Well, the Jackal is honored, but what exactly-"

"You totally knocked one of our suspects off our list!" she squealed, grinning as she let go of him. She clapped her hands excitedly. "That means Jason isn't banging some dirty whore, but in fact, he's with someone good that he loves, which could still be Sam. The whole set up there strikes me as all kinds of ugly, but I could be wrong. Either way, if he's not bedding that insane woman, you're safe, and that makes me all kinds of happy."

Maxie quieted as the doors to the hotel opened and she grabbed Spinelli, pulling him behind a column as if they were going to be caught doing something wrong. It wasn't like they were, but being secretive just seemed like the way this had to be, even if the case was closed.

"I'm leaving the Metro Court now," Elizabeth murmured, walking past them as she made her way to the valet stand. Thankfully, she didn't notice them crouched in the shadow as she was far too engrossed in her phone call. "It would have been better had you been here, and I could have at least seen you. Yeah. Grams has the boys. Lucky is still sick from the virus that Cameron had, so she didn't mind keeping them."

Elizabeth paused, handing her ticket to the valet attendant and smiled faintly as he hurried off to get her car. Spinelli started to move, but Maxie elbowed him in the stomach and shot him a glare to let him know if he was the reason Elizabeth saw them, she would definitely hurt him.

"Oh, no. Cameron's feeling better now. I'm just relieved Jake didn't catch it. That would have been a mess. What? Oh, okay. That sounds good. A fire and hot choc-" She stopped, her head jerking in their direction when Spinelli suddenly sneezed.

Swearing, Maxie slammed him against the column, kissing him hard as she roamed her hands over his jacket. She did it long enough to leave him breathless before pulling away and giving Elizabeth a shocked looked.

"Oh gosh! I didn't even see you there!" she cried, holding a hand over her mouth. "I've told Spinelli about getting frisky in public. He just never seems to listen."

"I'll call you back," Elizabeth murmured, snapping her phone closed as she looked at them. "Waiting for your car too?"

Spinelli started to shake his head, but Maxie slipped her hand around his neck, giving his hair a tug and forcing him to nod.

"Just couldn't contain ourselves," she said happily, looping her arms through Spinelli's. "Young love and all that. You know what it's like, right?"

"I do," Elizabeth murmured, giving them a nostalgic smile as the attendant pulled up with her car. "You guys have a safe night."

"You too!" Maxie called out, turning to face Spinelli and poking him in the ribs. "Seriously, do you have any idea what she was about to say on that phone?"

"Is the Jackal supposed to know?" he asked sheepishly.

"She was talking about a fire and hot chocolate! I found a hot chocolate packet in Jason's car, and we both know that he's not drinking anything that delicious. He likes his coffee thick like oil, but that doesn't explain why someone is drinking hot chocolate in early summer. Or having a fire, but to each their own," she replied, stomping her foot and throwing up her hands. "So not only is Jason possibly sleeping with Sam, but he could be sleeping with Elizabeth, and considering their history, and how it all ties in together…This is way juicier than Jason sleeping with his sister's wife."

"I thought the Fair Maximista was giving up on the case now that we know Vixenella isn't a suspect."

"Oh, you silly boy," she said, her eyes sparkling with the possibilities. "This case is just getting started."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 **

**Harbor View Towers, Penthouse 2**

"Stone Cold, you're home," Spinelli murmured, coming down stairs to find his boss sitting on the couch and skimming over the paper.

"Where else would I be, but here?" Jason grunted, reaching for his cup of coffee that was on the table in front of him.

"Well, the Jackal couldn't help but notice, you know, seeing as it is his duty to make sure that Stone Cold is _always_ protected," he said, sitting down on the couch arm, "that you did not come home last night."

"No, I didn't," he replied, shifting his eyes back to his paper as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with his answer at all.

Jason always came home, or rather he had until the past couple of months, but he was staying out more than usual, and just what was Spinelli supposed to think. He didn't call or leave a note, and he'd even stopped stocking the refrigerator, which meant that not only was he sleeping somewhere else, but he was eating there, too. Granted had Spinelli found himself with the usual endless supply of orange soda, he would have never noticed the change, but if Jason was forgetting to take care of his roommate, something was distracting him.

Spinelli knew all about being distracted by the female species. Every time Maxie came into the room his palms sweated and his mouth went dry, and he found himself practicing what to say, which was a feat all in itself. And while she made him so nervous he could barely think straight, she made him feel so comfortable and safe at the same time, which is how he imagined Jason's secret lady made him feel. Or else, he would never be sneaking around with her in the first place.

"Are you tired?" he asked curiously, wondering just how exhausting it was to have a secret relationship.

Jason had gone through a lot in the past few months; losing Michael, the take-over of the business, his break-up with Sonny. Not to mention his heart wrenching secret pain, which Maxie had almost discovered when she'd stolen his wallet. While she was his most trusted and loyal friend next to Jason, she still wasn't privy to the deepest secret he carried for his friend. Too many knew as it was.

"Not really," he answered, folding the paper up and tossing it down on the coffee table.

"Sleep well?" he asked, clasping his hands in his lap.

Jason arched an eyebrow as he looked up at Spinelli. "Yeah."

"That's very good news," he murmured, letting out a heavy sigh. _How did Maxie make looking getting information look so easy?_ "So, uh, why did Stone Cold fail to show at the ball?"

He shrugged, leaning back against the cushions, his coffee mug in hand. "I had…_stuff_."

_Stuff?_

Spinelli's mind raced with possibilities; coffee beans, security issues, the Zacharra's, bike riding, reveling in his secret pain, pining for the lost Michael.

Stuff could be _anything._

"Did you have a good time with Maxie?" Jason asked, getting up from the couch and heading towards the kitchen.

"The Maximista and I had quite an interesting evening," he replied, following Jason over to the desk. "We drank. We danced. We watched. There was an awkward moment where the Jackal collided with the Vixenella, and I may not be correct, but I do believe she fancies me just a bit."

"Claudia?" he grunted, failing to hide his amusement.

"Yes, despite what Stone Cold believes, some do find the Jackal quite enjoyable," he murmured, raking a hand through his hair when he realized he was getting off topic. "But as for the ball, it was quite enjoyable. Maxie ran into the Once Fair Samantha, whom I wish she would not befriend seeing as her involvement in your secret pain-"

"Spinelli," he warned, crossing his arms and glaring at him.

"The Maximista has no knowledge of the wee tot and your beloved Elizabeth, who was also at the ball," he rambled, desperate to get Jason to do anything but glare. Sadly, the mention of Elizabeth did nothing for his friend, and he almost looked heartbroken. "She looked well, seemed happy even."

"Good," he muttered, taking a deep breath.

"The Jackal is sorry. He did not wish to upset-"

"You didn't," he interrupted, waving his hand at him to stop apologizing. "It's nice…I like hearing that she's happy."

"She would be happier, of course, if-"

"We're not talking about this," he interrupted, slipping his phone from his pocket as it rang. "And you better not breathe a word to Maxie." Spinelli nodded, raising his eyebrows as Jason half-smiled down at the caller ID on the cell phone. "I need to take this."

"Of course," he said, backing towards the doorway as Jason answered the phone.

"Oh, and Spinelli?" Jason called out, holding the phone to his side.

"Yes, Stone Cold?"

"Uh, I don't know what exactly happened last night," he replied seriously, shaking his head. "I don't even want to know. Milo said something about the SUV and some girl named Miley-"

"Ah, yes, Maxie refers to her as a woman of accommodating virtues, and the Jackal believes the hired help is having a little fun on your time."

Jason paused as if contemplating his statement, and then motioned him out of the kitchen. "Whatever. Just tell her if she takes my keys again..."

"A threat may discourage the Fair Maximista," he offered, dropping his eyes to Jason's phone as he stepped closer, but he was careful to keep his hand over the caller ID.

He was a very smart man.

"Tell her if she does," he said slowly, "I'll show her where I really keep the bodies."

Spinelli grimaced. "Uh, the Jackal will do some editing, but I will make sure she gets your message."

"Thank you," Jason muttered, turning back to the phone, a silent signal for Spinelli to get lost.

Sighing, he started towards the living room just as Maxie came bursting through the door. "Great, you're up," she said, dropping her purse on Jason's desk. "We need to figure out our next move." She slid her hands over her hips and looked around curiously. "Did he not come home last night? I told you we should have tailed Elizabeth, but you had to go and get all noble on me."

"Keep it downne," he hissed, grabbing her by the arms and pushing her towards the door. "Stone Cold is in the kitchen on the phone and if he hears you-"

"Oh my god, Spinelli! He's on the phone and you aren't eavesdropping?" she cried, racing towards the kitchen as fast her stilettos would allow her.

Spinelli paused long enough to admire the way she bounced in four inch shoes, and it was only when she whispered _very loudly_ for him to follow that he snapped out of it.

"Watch out," she moaned, when he leaned against her, somehow stepping on her toe.

"The Jackal is sorry-"

"Shh, or we'll never hear a thing," she cut in, swatting him on the arm as she craned her neck towards the doorway.

"Yeah, Spinelli mentioned you," they heard Jason murmur, followed by the sound of running water.

"Oh, what the hell?" she asked, tipping her head towards Spinelli.

"Dishes?" he shrugged, frowning as the sound of the water continued.

"He's a freaking mobster," she spat, rolling her eyes. "Can't he afford a damn dishwasher?" Groaning, she pushed Spinelli towards the living room. "Or maybe he knew." She nibbled her lip as she contemplated the possibility. "What if he knew we were there? He is Jason Morgan, and he's probably got some weird spidey sense about people sneaking up behind him."

"It is possible," he admitted, walking over to the couch and sitting down. "Nothing gets past Stone Cold, for example, the Fair Maximista playing sticky fingers with his car keys."

"He found out?" she cried, cradling her face in her hands as she threw herself down beside him. "He's not going to kill me, is he? What if he tries? Oh, Spinelli-"

"It would be safe if you stayed far from Stone Cold's things," he cut in, forcing a smile at her. "Perhaps this case should also-"

"No, no, no," she said, sitting up beside him. "He can scare me out of stealing his car, but he can't scare me out of this silly secret. I swear, you don't know how crazy this is making me. I sat up half the night going back and forth between Elizabeth and Sam, and both women have reasons why they would and reasons why they wouldn't."

"I mean, why would Sam could go back to Jason, who pretty much tossed her aside – not that I can blame him because sleeping with your stepdad is low. Not even I am that desperate, but she was, mostly from a broken heart that Jason gave her."

"There's also Lucky, who is a decent guy when Elizabeth isn't sinking her claws into him and trying to convince him she's an angel and anything else with a vagina isn't. Gosh, I bet it just eats her up that Lucky is with Sam, and I bet Sam only slept with Lucky because she was jealous about hearing that Elizabeth slept with Jason."

She paused, and Spinelli thought she was finished, but he realized she was just catching her breath.

"As for Elizabeth, well, her entire affair – or one night of whatever – she had with Jason ruined her marriage when the truth came out. I can understand going a round with Jason. He's hot and rich and really built, but aside from that what is there – a hell of a lot of brooding, which I can't see Elizabeth going for, especially when she has small kids to consider. And while she's no angel, she would never put her kids in harms way."

"Gosh, Spinelli," she moaned, falling back against the couch and closing her eyes. "Just thinking about it is so exhausting. It's full of so many crisscrosses and so confusing that we need a damn compass to get around. If I don't find out which one of them he's banging, I am going to lose my damn mind."

"The Jackal is weary as to why the Fair Maximista cares so much," he commented, saddened by the way she was so concerned over Jason's _maybe_-secret relationship. "What if he's seeing no one?"

"Oh, he is," she stated firmly, shifting her eyes towards the hallway that led to the kitchen. "And we're going to find out. Kate has a hangover from too much of that overpriced champagne they served last night, so I have the day off, and I've already called Sam to meet for lunch. That means you have to go to the hospital and talk to Elizabeth."

"The Jackal wishes he could take part, but to speak to the Ma – to Fair Elizabeth-"

"I can't do everything," she whined, wringing her hands. "I slept with Elizabeth's husband and fed him pain killers to keep him so drugged up that he thought he loved me. In fact, I'm responsible for that stupid night she spent with Jason so the last person she wants coming around and asking her about her life is _me_."

He hesitated again – not exactly sure why because it wasn't like he'd tell her no.

"Okay, fine, Spinelli. I'll make a deal with you," she said seriously, reaching over to take his hand. "You talk to Elizabeth today, and I'll talk to Sam. If we don't find anything, we'll close the case and start saving cats from trees."

**General Hospital, Fifth Floor Nurse's Station**

Spinelli stepped off the elevator and adjusted the strap of his laptop bag over his shoulder as he approached the nurse's hub. Elizabeth was laughing with Robin as they stood in front of a computer monitor, and barely noticed his presence at the desk. It wasn't until Epiphany appeared and loudly cleared her throat that the two women parted; Robin heading for the elevators as Elizabeth turned back to her charts.

"Mr. Spinelli, can I help you?" the head nurse asked, arching her eyebrows at him.

"Uh, yes. Well, no," he muttered, raking a hand through his hair as he glanced at the nurse. "The Jackal was wondering if he could borrow the Fair Nurse Webber."

"Is this a medical issue?" she inquired, looking over at Elizabeth. "Or is this personal?"

"Erm, well…a personal…medical issue," he said, fisting his hands nervously in his shirt.

"Do I even want to know?" Epiphany asked, shaking her head and motioning for Elizabeth to take care of the boy. "If I find out this wasn't a personal medical issue, I'm going to come after you for stealing my staff when we're short-handed."

"Duly noted," he murmured, forcing a smile as the petite brunette made her way over to him. "Would you mind sitting?" He pointed towards the couches, and she just nodded and made her way over, watching him carefully.

"So…" she started, nibbling her lip as she sat down on the couch. "What's this personal medical issue of yours?"

"Erm, well it's about the Fair Maximista," he sighed, lowering his bag to the floor. Spinelli had the entire story planned in his head, had even perfected the dialogue on the way over, but now he was scared. "And what you saw last night."

"I didn't see anything," she said teasingly, grinning as he shifted uncomfortably beside her.

"Uh, Stone Cold isn't exactly privy to the Jackal's secret relationship with the Fair Maximista, and I worry that if he were to find out, he might be discouraged."

"I don't see how this pertains to me," she murmured slowly, looking around the hospital floor as if worried that someone would be listening.

"You are close to Stone Cold-"

"I used to be close to Jason," she corrected, lowering her voice. "Look, if that's what this is about, you don't have to worry about me saying anything. Who you date and see in _secret_ or in public is your business. It's none of mine." She pushed herself up from the sofa, suddenly looking stressed. "I have to get back to work, Spinelli. I'd appreciate it if you didn't come to see me about Jason again."

Sighing, Spinelli fell back against the cushions as the nurse walked away, perking up only when he realized she wasn't going back to the hub. Maybe something really was going on between her and Jason. Digging through his laptop bag he pulled out his phone and dialed Maxie's number.

She answered on the first ring. "Hey, I only have a minute. Did you find out anything?"

"Fair Elizabeth became very agitated when I asked her to keep the secret relationship of the Fair Maximista and the Jackal under wraps."

"Oh, that's an awesome cover story, Spinelli. There's hope for you yet! What did she say?"

"She was very displeased and asked the Jackal not to visit her at work and talk about Stone Cold. Then she walked away, but didn't return to work."

"Well, why aren't you following her?"

"Why aren't you questioning the Once Fair Samantha?" he retorted, figuring if he was working hard, Maxie should be too.

"Sam got a phone call and had to step outside."

"You aren't following her?"

"No, she said it was Lucky."

"But that doesn't mean-"

"Why would she lie about – Right. We're terrible at this, Spinelli." He could hear the sound of her chair screeching against the floor of the diner. "I'm going to go see if I can find anything. You go track her down and make sure she isn't calling him to report your visit. I'll meet you back at the Penthouse in an hour."

**Kelly's Diner**

Scowling, Maxie pressed her phone to her ear and hurried outside to where Sam was standing. "Terrible reception in there," she muttered, when her friend glanced at her curiously.

"What? Yeah, I'm here," Sam said, turning her attention back to her call.

"Yes, Kate. I did all that for you yesterday," Maxie insisted, lying her way through a work phone call. "I put the faxes on your desk. No problem. I can wait while you check."

She tapped her fingers against her hip as she paced back and forth impatiently, chewing her lip when it sounded like Sam was ready to end her call. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought about Sam lying. It made so much sense for her to get up and leave the diner to talk to Lucky. It wasn't as if she hadn't listened to their conversations countless times before.

"No, I said I could meet at Jake's later. I have some stuff I have to take care of first. I know. I'm sorry, but this is important too. Don't worry. He won't know a thing." She stopped long enough to look at Maxie, who immediately started to rant into her phone.

"Glad you found the faxes, Kate. I was so worried that Lulu had misplaced them when she was doing what she likes to call a clean up of your desk. Oh, I know. She's such a piece of work. Anyway, I hope you're feeling better – Shit." She held her phone out as it rang, suddenly panicking as Sam stared at her.

"I have to go," her friend muttered, snapping her phone shut and continuing to look at Maxie.

She was an idiot. A stupid, freaking idiot who had no idea how to conduct an investigation, and Sam was staring at her and waiting for her to act.

"Are you going to answer that, Maxie?" she asked, looking at the phone. "You don't want Kate to think you hung up on her."

_Oh, thank god for bad cell phone connections._

"It's not Kate…" She frowned when she saw Spinelli's name on the caller ID, not sure why he was calling back so quickly. "It's…Never mind, I should get going. Kate's freaking out at the office, and her cell probably died, and it'll be all kinds of bad. I'm sorry to run out on lunch, but it's my job and if I get fired there go all my hopes and dreams of being a fashion icon. Not to mention that I won't get to boss Lulu around – let alone fire her and it would just be all kinds of bad."

"Take a deep breath, Maxie," Sam laughed, shrugging her rant off. "It's okay."

"Really? I'm sorry. Besides it sounded like maybe I was keeping you from something too."

She shrugged, glancing down at her cell phone. "I just have to meet someone at Jake's later."

_Someone? _

_Very interesting. _

"Yeah, well I should get going. I hope that goes well for you," Maxie called out, hurrying towards the back alley where her car was parked. Her phone rang again as she unlocked the door, and she knew without looking at it that it was Spinelli. "I'm going to the penthouse now. Be there or else."

If it was Lucky that Sam was meeting, why not say so? Who else could she possibly be meeting? She had no girlfriends, mostly because she slept with men who belonged to someone else. Thankfully, Maxie had no man and would never have to worry about that.

Well, she had Spinelli, but Sam McCall would never go for her favorite nerd. Or at least she better not.

Then again, Sam was really attractive and clearly knew how to get into a man's pants. What if Spinelli just fell for it? She'd break his heart and not even think twice.

Oh, that was it. She was going to have to talk to Spinelli about quite a few things.

**Harbor View Towers, Penthouse 2**

Spinelli paced the floor of the penthouse, doing his best to recall every bit of information he'd overheard from Elizabeth's phone call. Surprisingly enough, the nurse had gone straight to the locker room and made a call, and while he wasn't exactly sure it was Jason, it didn't make sense for it to be anyone else.

She'd admitted she was rattled by Spinelli showing up and asking about her and Jason, but that she was trying to shake it off. She'd laughed a bit, saying that the boy had good intentions and it was just too bad he didn't need to try. Before hanging up, she'd promised to meet someone at Jake's after her shift. He couldn't be sure, but she may have said the name of the person on the phone, only Dr. Drake had shown up with Epiphany. Neither seemed too happy to see him and quickly threatened his life if he didn't leave the premises. As he walked away the doctor made some comment about Spinelli having a crush on Elizabeth, and that was the last thing he needed to get back to Jason.

"Spinelli, we need to talk!" Maxie cried, just as she did every time she set foot in the penthouse, leaving Spinelli to wonder why he imagined it would ever be any different.

"Yes, we do because the Jackal has gotten himself into a situation and if Stone Cold finds out that I may or may not have a crush on the Fair-"

"I knew it!" she exclaimed, throwing her purse down on the couch. "You would sleep with her if you had the chance, wouldn't you?"

"What?" he gasped, holding a hand over his mouth.

_Didn't she realize this was the most taboo of subjects?_

"You can't, Spinelli, and I'm not saying it because I want you."

He just gave her a blank look.

"When most women tell a guy they don't want him to sleep with some two-bit whore, they think it's because the woman wants to sleep with him, but I just don't want you to get your heart broken. She doesn't care about your gentle soul and the fact that you're the sweetest guy in the entire world. Women like her only want one thing – money. Two, if you count sex. You are more important than that."

"Erm, perhaps the Jackal may interject?" he asked nervously, wanting to correct her because there was no way he would ever sleep with Elizabeth.

Granted, she was beautiful and kind with a heart of gold, but she was first and foremost Jason's, and while his boss may not mind sampling someone else's goods, Spinelli most definitely did not.

"Please tell me I'm just overreacting," she begged, throwing herself down on the couch.

"The Jackal has no intentions of sleeping with Fair Elizabeth," he said seriously, sitting down beside her and smiling faintly. "His heart belongs to-"

"Elizabeth? Who said anything about Elizabeth?" she asked, sitting up and looking at him. "I know you wouldn't sleep with her. Jason may be a leftover kind of guy, but you are not."

"The Jackal must agree, but if you weren't talking about Fair Elizabeth…"

"I meant Sam," she filled in, acting as if he should have known all along. "If she were to approach you-"

"The Jackal would never."

Brushing her bangs from her face, she grinned and shook her head. "I should have known. I just got so worked up at the thought." He nodded, going along with her, not sure how this idea even came into play but she didn't give him the chance to answer. "So, I didn't get to finish lunch with Sam. I sort of flubbed things up, but no worries because I think you were right about the phone call. Sam was being secretive and weird about meeting someone later because she had something to do, and that something was to meet someone at Jake's, which is kind of a public place to have a secret rendezvous. And I bet the rooms are disgusting. Just imagine how many people have sex on those things in one week? Totally gross, but then I was thinking that maybe Jason likes it dirty, in turn making his woman like it dirty, and Sam is kind of dirty, so…"

"The Once Fair Samantha is going to Jake's."

She nodded firmly.

"To meet Jason."

"Yep."

"That's impossible."

"I haerd the phone call, Spinelli."

"But the Jackal overhead a phone call between Elizabeth and Jason saying that she would meet him at Jake's."

"You don't know that it was Jason," she argued, furrowing her brow as she thought it over.

"Neither do you," he pointed out, to which she crossed her arms and sat back on the couch. Spinelli immediately felt weary, knowing the wheels were turning in her head, and he was almost too afraid to ask.

"Well, that leaves us no choice," she shrugged, reaching over and placing a hand on his leg.

"Meaning?" he gulped, sucking in a breath as she gently squeezed his leg, not sure if whether he could control exactly where the blood started to rush to.

She leaned over so that her face was close to his. In fact, if he leaned forward at just the right angle, he'd be able to-

"We're going to Jake's tonight."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Jake's**

"Spinelli, will you relax?" Maxie hissed, sliding onto a barstool beside him. "If you're all tense, you'll get all confused and mess things up."

"The Jackal has difficulties being in normal social circumstances, let alone ones that are heightened with alcohol, cigarette smoke, and women in revealing clothing," he replied, swallowing hard as he looked over at his friend who was in fact one of those women.

When she decided they would be going to the bar to spy on Elizabeth, Sam, and quite possibly Jason, she said they had to dress the part. She went home only to show up an hour later in a sleeveless, scoop-necked red dress that cut off mid-thigh and a pair of black stilettos. He'd offered her his jacket the second they walked into the bar, but of course she declined.

He wasn't exactly sure what kind of role they would be playing at the bar, seeing as very few of the women at the bar were held in the same regard as Maxie.

"Maximista?" he asked, watching the bartender slowly make his way towards them. "I would assume that as the Jackal PI and the stealthy Maximista, we are supposed to blend into our surroundings."

"We are, silly," she agreed, tapping her fingers on the bar. "You are my date, of course."

"If the Jackal was fortunate enough to take Maximista on a date, a smoke-filled bar would be the last-"

"Oh, good point. We really didn't think this through," she interrupted, furrowing her brow as Coleman stopped in front of them.

"What can I get you for you and your lady friend, Jackal?" he asked, eyeing Maxie curiously.

"I'll have something girly," she replied, looking over at Spinelli. "And get him something manly, but not overly strong."

"Sure thing, sweetie," he winked, busying himself as he made their drinks.

"Erm, Maximista?" he asked, frowning at her. "Drinking is most definitely-"

"For show," she cut in, flashing him a grin. "We're at a bar. It will look weird if we don't drink. As for our cover up…" She rocked back and forth on the stool, her eyes lighting up as she looked around the bar. "I've got it. I'll sit here at the bar, and you go hide in a corner or something."

"A corner?" he asked, slumping his shoulders.

"Yes, I'll be your eyes and ears," she replied simply, grinning as Coleman slid a sparkling pink drink in a martini glass over to her.

"That's a secret drink that I only give to special patrons," he murmured, winking again as he handed Spinelli a beer. "I don't think this will hurt the Jackal too much."

"Forget about the beer," she said, handing it back to Coleman. "And forget that you saw Spinelli because he's leaving." He gasped, preparing to argue, but she continued on. "You see I have this date tonight with some guy that I met on my online profile, and Spinelli was just trying to talk me out of it because he thinks it's dangerous. But the guy is really rich and handsome and I think he might be the one, so I am going to send my very best friend here on his way and have my date in peace."

"I can watch your girly friend, Jackal," he muttered, his attention shifting down the bar when one of the two other customers in the bar called for him.

Spinelli waited until Coleman was away before he started to rattle off all the reasons this could not happen. "Maximista, you cannot-"

"I can," she huffed, grabbing his laptop bag and pulling it up onto the bar, paying no attention to the fact that it was still hanging over his shoulder. "You brought some of those fancy gadgets of yours right?"

"Just as you requested," he choked, hurrying to pull his head through the strap.

She looked around again as if they were going to be caught and hurried to dig through the bag. "What is all this?"

Sighing heavily, he ran through the items, all of which he had informed her about on their ride over. He held up two tiny earpieces. "Two-way listening devices so that I can always hear you and you can always hear me…" He tossed down a plastic baggie of what looked like black pieces of foam. "Bugs, which act as both tracking and listening devices." And then he tossed down a pen, a stapler, and various other office supplies. "These are all cameras and listening devices as well."

"Well, I can't use any office supplies. We seriously need to get some PI stuff that is sparkling and shiny and matches my wardrobe," she huffed, grabbing the bugs and earpieces. "Take an ear piece, go hide in a corner, or crawl behind the bar when Coleman's not looking. Just hide. It makes more sense for me to be here than you."

"The Jackal has partaken in an alcoholic beverage in this very establishment," he reminded her.

"I know, but I can't crawl behind the bar in an expensive dress," she cried, getting up from the stool and handing him his bag. "And if Elizabeth and Sam see us together they may think things. I don't know what kinds of things but I know it won't be good."

"And the bugs?" he asked, frowning when she continued to clutch them in her hand.

"I – oh – I said you need to leave!" she yelled, throwing her hands up as she grabbed her drink and shiny clutch purse from the bar. "I swear Spinelli. You have to go to stop this. You are my best friend, but I can damn well date whoever I want to date."

His face fell instantly, and he started to apologize. "The Jackal was merely looking out for his-"

"I said go!" she hissed, tucking her purse under her arm to free a hand so she could grab and spin him towards the door.

"Oh, the Jackal sees," he murmured, his heart lifting in his chest when he realized Sam had suddenly appeared behind him.

"Bye. I'll call you later," she muttered, shoving him towards the door as she took a sip of her drink.

Once Spinelli was gone, she sat her drink on the bar and looked at Sam. "Seriously, I don't know what to do with him. He's so over protective," she clucked, looking around.

"He just cares about you," she replied, eyeing her suspiciously. "Especially when it comes to being in a place like this."

"Yeah, whatever. I can take care of myself," she said, stalking away from the bar. She paused long enough to turn around. "Could you watch my drink? I need to go to the ladies room and freshen up."

"No problem," Sam laughed, sitting down at the bar and shaking her head.

**Ladies Room, Jake's**

"Ewww," Maxie whined, shivering as she looked around the dirty bathroom, wondering when the last time was thathow long it had been since Coleman had bothered to run a mop across the floor.

She couldn't imagine what kind of person actually turned on the sink and put their hands under the water, let alone used the toilets.

She needed a shower. _Now._

"Thank Ggod," she murmured, her cell finally ringing. She had called Spinelli five minutes ago and he hadn't answered. "What took you so long? I want to make sure that we set up this device correctly!"

"The Jackal was busy finding a place where he could be eyes and ears as well."

"Oh, fair enough," she said, pacing back and forth, trying not to tear up as her Jimmy Choos stuck to the floor. "Where are you?"

"Took your suggestion and am now curled behind the bar."

"Spinelli! What if Sam would have seen you?"

"No worries about the Once Fair Samantha. She is engaging in a conversation with a man in a suit who is not the Inept Detective, leading the Jackal to wonder if-"

"They aren't important – right now at least. I have to get this in my ear and-"

"The Fair Maximista is clearly eager to solve the mystery," he muttered, the distinct sound of clicking coming through the phone.

"You are under the bar onunder your laptop?" she asked, a hand on her hip. "What if you get caught?"

"I want to record what we hear in our devices and this is the most probable way of documenting – and now, yes, put the device in your ear and hang up the phone."

"What if it doesn't work? Then I'll have to hang up and call you-" She scowled when she realized he'd hung up on her. "Well if you can hear me, you never hang up on me again, Spinelli. It's rude and tasteless and terrible phone contact."

"Duly noted," came his voice inside her ear, causing her to shiver as the device vibrated.

"Oh, this is too weird," she said, checking her ear in the mirror to make sure it was hidden. "Too freaking weird."

"Maximista!" Spinelli cried, forcing her to flinch at his voice.

"Can you adjust the volume on this thing?"

"How's that?"

"Better."

"Good, now hurry back out into the bar because the Jackal believes there is a ruckus."

**Behind the bar, Jake's**

Spinelli shifted uncomfortably, not sure how he'd managed to pin one leg next to his head and the other beneath him, but knew if Coleman caught him, he would be in lots of trouble.

"Maximista?" he asked, when she was silent for nearly a minute.

"I have to be careful," she hissed, "or else I'll look like some loon who is talking to herself. Granted, I'll be a very well-dressed and attractive loon, but a loon nonethe – Jason! What are you doing here?"

"Stone Cold is here? I thought you said the Fair Samantha-"

"Shut up," she murmured, clearing her throat and then coughing. "I have a tick. Sorry about that. What are you doing here, Jason? I'd figure you and Spinelli would be off doing boy things."

"We've _never_ done boy things."

"Fair enough, but don't play that answer avoidance thing with me. I asked why you were here."

"I could ask you the same thing."

"You don't own me."

Jason grunted.

"Fine, I see your point, Jason, but Spinelli is already worried about you enough. The last thing you need to do is start drowning your sorrows and banging bar whores to get over whatever ache you seem to have. That leads me to my next question – this ache of yours – female or mob related?"

"I have to go."

He heard the sound Maxie's heels against the floors and assumed she was trotting after him. "Jason, don't you dare walk away from…" She groaned loudly. "He just ran away. _Like literally ran._ I have never seen Jason move so fast in myhis life."

"Where did he go?"

"Oh, he just disappeared through the doorway, so I guess he left."

"Did you check?"

She groaned again, and he heard her heels move against the floor.

"Oh my Ggod. I am so terrible at this PI stuff and so thankful I have you."

"What?"

"Because if I didn't have you in my ear and being all why aren't you following him you twit-"

"The Jackal did not call you a twit."

"Well, I called myself one because I am."

"Are not."

"Oh my Ggod, can I just get to my point, Spinelli?"

"Please do, Maximista."

"If you weren't so awesome and intelligent and all why aren't you following Jason, I would have missed him disappearing into a room above the bar."

**Hallway, Jake's**

Maxie tapped her foot loudly against the floor, contemplating what could possibly be going on upstairs.

Unless Elizabeth had managed to slip inside while she was in the bathroom, but she figured Sam would have at least distracted her for a few minutes.

_Crap. _

_Was that stupid woman upstairs about to bang Jason Morgan? _

Groaning, she moved to the doorway that led into the bar and frowned when she saw that Sam was gone, and her very sparkly pink drink was now unattended. So much for the Coleman Special.

"Maximista?"

She jumped, having forgotten about the voice in her earthe bar. "Sam and Elizabeth are nowhere to be seen, so I'm going to sit at the bar for a bit," she muttered, walking towards her neglected drink.over to the bar.

"Did the Once Fair Samantha slip upstairs with Stone Cold?"

"I have no idea. Elizabeth is – just now walking in alone," she squealed, flashing a grin at the brunette who looked at her awkwardly. Maxie shrugged and hurried over to her drink, downing it in one sip, desperate to make herself look busy. Elizabeth passed her by and sat on the faurthest end of the bar, looking at Coleman, who then looked at Maxie and back at Elizabeth.

_Something was definitely going on. _

"Maximista?"

"Jesus, Spinelli. Give a girl a second," she muttered, hanging her head to hide her face as she talked. "You sit behind this bar and be quiet or – or I'll rat you out to Coleman!" She waited for him to reply, but he didn't. "Did you hear me?"

"I'm being quiet."

"Oh," she said, tapping her empty glass against the bar. "Good." She debated on whether or not she wanted another, but figured why the hell not.

**Behind the bar, Jake's**

Spinelli took a deep breath and clenched his eyes closed as he listened to Maxie talk to yet another guy at the bar. He'd been contemplating on pulling the earpiece out all together, but refused to let jealousy get the best of him.

Besides, what if Maxie actually ended up _needing_ him?

Judging from the slur of her words and the clang of glasses on the bar, she probably would when the bar closed in a couple of hours.

_This had been a terrible idea. _

Okay, so most of this entire investigation was a terrible idea.

Jason would surely kill them both and who know what he would-

"I've got a room upstairs," he heard through Maxie's earpiece.

"Really?" she squealed. "I'd love to see it."

This was officially the _worst_ idea in the history of all ideas.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**|Behind the bar, Jake's|**

The bar was silent; a rarity in it's own for the seedy place, especially when someone like Maxie Jones was a customer. There was the faint sound of pool balls clanging against one another on felt and the sounds of beer bottles being set on tables, but no high pitched giggle that melted Spinelli's heart.

This was _bad_.

Sighing, he cradled his laptop to his chest and tried to stretch out behind the bar, desperate to make a silent and safe exit without being caught by Coleman. The bartender liked him well enough, but there was no way to possibly explain why he was behind the counter, laptop in tow, hiding away.

Of course, Spinelli could use the overall atmosphere and his fear of it as an excuse. Booze, attractive women, and bar stools did nothing for the Jackal, and when you added in his beloved Maximista, he was destined to be a complete mess.

Craning his neck, he peeked out to see Coleman laughing with a customer on the opposite end of the bar and knew that now was his chance to escape. He slid his laptop across the floor and placed his palms face down as he tried to pull himself from the tight spot.

Unfortunately, despite his quiet demeanor and petite form, the Jackal did _not_ fit well in tight places.

This was _really_ bad.

Gritting his teeth, he thrust forward, hoping to will himself out of the tight spot, and found himself face to face first with the remnants of bar nuts. He didn't want to think about whose mouth they had come from or how long they'd been on the floor. Surely, Maxie was going to force him to bathe in bleach upon their return to the penthouse.

Shaking his head, he thrust forward again, well aware that he looked awkward to anyone who would have noticed him, but was thankful that Coleman was still laughing with the bar patron.

"Come on," he murmured, feeling defeated as he twisted his legs around and rocked back and forth on his hands. He really had no idea what he was doing at this point, but figured the more he moved, the looser he'd become, and…

Yes.

He tumbled forward, his face colliding with the bar nut coated floor as his legs flailed behind him. He cringed at the sound of something banging against the floor, followed by the sound of breaking glass.

"What the hell are you doing, Jackal?" Coleman called out, rushing over to help him to his feet. He frowned as he dusted Spinelli off, shaking his head at the pile of broken barware. "You were under the bar."

He nodded, tugging at the hem of his shirt as his knees started to buckle beneath him.

"What in the hell are you doing, Spinelli?"

He cringed at the all too familiar voice of his boss and roommate. He glanced over his shoulder to find him glaring in all his leather jacket clad glory and just knew that Jason had been the very patron that Coleman was talking to.

This was really, _really_ bad.

**********

**|Upstairs hallway, Jake's|**

"Oh my Ggod, you have your own room above a bar!" Maxie exclaimed, slapping the dark haired, PCU student she'd met downstairs on the arm. She rocked back and forth on her feet as she glanced around at the room numbers. "This is the kind of stuff legends are made of."

"Something like that," he laughed, fumbling with the lock to room number one.

Maxie frowned when she realized his hands were trembling and he was entirely too over eager about getting her upstairs. He was definitely not the stuff that legends were made of. "Take your time, big boy. There's no reason to rush and fuss," she slurred, patting him on the shoulder. She leaned over and brushed her lips to his ear. "We've got all – whoa!"

She stumbled forward as the man grabbed her wrist and jerked her into the room. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she hissed, trying to push him away, but he was stronger and pulled her forward. "What are you doing?"

"Just what you wanted, baby," he murmured, pressing his lips to hers.

"I am not your baby, you stupid-" He cut her off by kissing her again, and she did the first thing that came to mind and sank her teeth into his lower lip so hard that he pushed her away.

"What the fuck is wrong with-"

"Maximista!"

She stumbled back on her feet as the door swung open, and Spinelli and Jason burst inside. Her best friend looked completely frazzled, and she suddenly felt really embarrassed about what had just happened. Leave it to her to use sex as a way to get what she wanted – even if she didn't have any intention of actually sleeping with this guy, it was typical Maxie fashion and she hated that Spinelli had to see that side of her.

"Don't ever come near her again," Jason spat, stepping towards Maxie and gathering her in his arms in one swoop.

"What the hell, Jason?" she cried, smacking him in the back as he tossed her over his shoulder and started out of the room. "Stop acting like some damn caveman and put me down!" When he didn't she twisted around as much as she could and grabbed him by back of his head.

He swore a string of curse words that almost made her blush, but promptly set her on her feet. "You met some strange guy in a bar, got plastered, and let him take you upstairs."

She tossed her bangs from her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. "What's wrong, Jason?" she asked, flashing him a wide grin. "Are you just jealous that it wasn't you?"

Jason's jaw tightened as he looked at Spinelli. "Can you take her home or do I need to haul her over my shoulder the whole way?"

"I think he likes me," she chuckled, wobbling as she elbowed Spinelli in the side. He looked completely horrified, and she almost stopped her shenanigans, but realized this was just too fun. "I just wanted to see an upstairs room." She reached out and squeezed Jason's arm. "You wanna show me yours?"

"Get her home now," he barked, turning to walk away, but Maxie started after him.

"Oh come on, maybe the reason you hate me is all this pent up sexual-" She laughed when he spun around and tossed her over his shoulder again, starting straight for the stairs. "Why travel by feet when you can travel by hitman?!"

"Stone Cold, the Jackal apologizes for the Fair Maximista's clear state of duress. It's the liquor that made her tongue so loose and-"

"Save it, Spinelli. The big man doesn't care about any of that," she slurred, smacking him on his behind as they stepped out into the parking lot behind the bar. "Oh! Spinelli, did you get my purse?" She grinned when he held it out to her and she snatched it from his hands. "Best friend ever. I can always count on – Jjesus! You can warn a girl!" She stumbled back onto her feet as he set her on the ground, hurrying to dig through her purse as Jason motioned for Spinelli to open the car door.

"Get in," Jason ordered, narrowing his eyes at her.

She stuck her tongue out as she snapped her purse closed, challenging him to grab her again.

God, men were so easy.

"In," he snapped, grabbing her by the arm and shoving her inside the car.

She gripped the leather on his jacket, pulling him over her as she tumbled into the backseat. Her hands skimmed over his jacket, his pockets, and she briefly felt his muscles through his t-shirt, and it was impossible not to think that he was completely wasted on Sonny Corinthos.

"Oh, this is a position I never thought we'd be in!" she snickered, poking him in the side. He gripped her wrists in one hand, holding her down in the back seat. "I always knew you'd be the dominating-"

"Cut the shit, Maxie," he warned, letting go of her as she finally gave in and collapsed against the seat.

Jason slammed the car door behind her, and she laughed as she listened to him telling Spinelli that after tonight, Maxie was forever banned from the penthouse, that he didn't want to be within five hundred feet of her. He even threatened to get Diane to make it legal.

Putz.

Sighing, she closed her eyes and listened as Spinelli defended her, relieved that someone was on her side.

**********

**|Two blocks from Jake's|**

Spinelli sighed heavily as he glanced at Maxie in the rearview mirror, wondering when his beloved and best friend had taken to his boss like so many other women in town. It was terrible enough to see her swooning over some stranger at a bar, let alone Jason Morgan. It wasn't fair that he would never be polished and suave and make girls fall to their knees without knocking them over first. Shaking his head, he flipped on the radio, desperate for some NPR to soothe his soul as he rolled to a stop at a red light.

"Oh my Ggod!" Maxie cried, sitting up in the back seat. She immediately started to smooth her hair and stretched forward to smack him on the arm. "Spinelli, you let me fall asleep!"

"Perhaps that is the liquor-"

"I'm not drunk," she interrupted, motioning up the street. "Pull into the next empty spot."

"The Jackal must take the Fair, Inebriated Maximista-"

"I am not drunk," she hissed, glaring at him in the rearview mirror. "I had one drink. Ordered another and slowly poured it onto the floor."

"But you-"

"I was pretending. We were watching, Jason, remember?" She frowned heavily at him and pursed her lips together. "Do you honestly think I would drink on the job, Spinelli? Isn't that in your forty-two rules or some-"

"You're not inebriated? High on the elixir of alcoholic gods? Three sheets to the-"

"No, I just _pretended_ I was drunk," she stressed as if that were supposed to make some kind of sense.

"Why?" he asked, slowly pressing down on the gas when the light turned green.

"Pull over! We have work to do!" she ordered, gripping the driver and passenger seat as she barreled herself forward. "Oh, this is – crap…There." She sat up satisfied with a grin on her face when she was finally upright. "I pretended I was drunk because I needed some kind of excuse to get upstairs."

"Why didn't you just go-"

"Because then Jason would have seen me and been all what the hell are you doing, Maxie?" she imitated, clenching her jaw and speaking robotically. "And then I would have been all it's none of your business and he would have all but thrown me over his shoulder – well, it sounded like a good plan at the time, Spinelli."

She shrugged, pulling his laptop from his bag and turning it on. "I thought I'd get drunk, get upstairs, make some noise, and Jason and Sam-slash-Elizabeth would hurry out of his room to save me, and then bam! Case solved. We know who Jason is banging."

He nodded slowly, trying to keep up, but only one fact of this little scheme of hers mattered. Sighing, he pulled the car into an empty spot on the street and turned off the ignition. "So asking to see Stone Cold's room-"

"Oh, ew." She curled her lips up in disgust. "Yeah, Jason is hot and he has pretty eyes and a body that most men would kill for, but seriously – his room – ew. Never. I'd give up all the Jimmy Choos and Couture in the world before I would go there. He is so not my type. I thought you would have realized this by now."

"The Fair Maximista doesn't wish to have an attractive, blue eyed, muscular-"

"No, I want that, but I want someone who actually talks," she interrupted, making a face at the computer screen. She held it out to him and pointed at the screen. "Fix this. I mean, like I said, he's all that, but he's not the bag of chips – wait, that makes no sense. Gosh, pretending to be drunk really slows you down."

She rolled her eyes and looked over to make sure he was booting up the computer. "Why are we talking about this? You know that there is only one man in my life, my very best friend and soon to be the best damned private investigator around, Damien Spinelli."

His heart fluttered, and he tried to resist the urge to return such devotion, knowing that she didn't quite mirror his exact emotions. "What am I doing?" he asked quietly, trying to focus on the task at hand.

"Oh, well, I did something bad," she confessed, her eyes widening as she smiled, "but not that bad. If Jason ever finds out, I'm toast. This is worse than anything I've ever done, and he'll probably force me to swim with the fishes – do you think he'll tie cement blocks to my feet or just put a bullet between my eyes." She shivered, suddenly looking worried. "Oh, gosh. What was I thinking? I think pretending to be drunk really made me drunk, and I just cannot – I have no idea-"

"Maximista, relax and tell the Jackal what you did, and we will get through this together."

She nodded, looking unconvinced. "Well, technically you aided me by giving me my purse, so I'll just say you did it, that way Jason doesn't kill me, and you're practically everything to him – all the poor man has so-"

"What did you do?" he repeated, scrubbing a hand over his face.

"Spinelli, please don't hate me. I really did think it was a good idea. I figured why not – it will let us know what Jason is up to – unless – oh my Ggod. What if he kills someone? We'll be witnesses. Unless he changes his pants or shirt or jacket – no, he's always wearing that damned leather jacket."

"Maximista." He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to the steering wheel, knowing he didn't want to hear what she was going to say.

"Please don't hate me."

"The Jackal could never hate you."

"You can't even look at me."

"I need to know what you-"

"Okay, okay!" she cried, holding up her hands and taking a deep breath. "I – oh, God. I am so going to die tonight."

"Maximista!"

"I bugged Jason!" she shrieked, letting out a painful cry. "I – you had those stupid bugs – and I took one – and you gave me my purse – and I – oh, Ggod. There is a bug on Jason Morgan right now. What if someone intercepts it and they hear bad things and he goes to prison and Sonny makes me swim with the fishes." She chewed her lip as she looked at him. "Sonny doesn't like you and while I'm his fiance's assistant, I'm basically replaceable. We are both so dead."

"You planted a listening device on Stone Cold?" he asked, amazed that the night continued to get worse by the second.

She nodded.

"Where?"

"What?"

"Where is the listening device?"

"Oh, I put it…" She trailed off, resting her head against the back of her seat as she rubbed her hands over her face. "I have no idea, Spinelli. I mean, I touched him everywhere. My hands touched places I would have never touched – oh, not that place, that is seriously foul. I will never get close to Jason Morgan's Mini Morgan – ever. But everywhere else. Crap."

"How can you not remember, Maximista?" he moaned, shaking his head against the steering wheel.

"I told you," she pouted, folding her arms over her chest. "Pretending that you're drunk is really hard because you almost feel drunk, but you're not. Just give me some time to sober up and-"

"You're not inebriated."

She scowled and stared out the windshield. "Fake inebriation is by far worse than the real kind." Hanging her head, she slowly snuck a glance at him. "What are we going to do? I know I have no right-"

"There's only one thing we can do," he sighed, holding up his laptop. "We listen."

"We listen?" she asked, her eyes wide with fear.

"We listen," he repeated seriously, "so that we can find Stone Cold and debug him."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**|Harbor View Towers, Penthouse 2|**

Spinelli loved Maxie.

He truly, honestly did, or else he would have told her to leave, sent her completely packing with her tail between her legs.

"I'm so sorry," she moaned, falling back on the couch, her head in her hands. "I mean, it just – I swear, thinking like you're drunk does bad things."

"The Jackal will locate Stone Cold and remove the bug without him knowing it," he repeated, like he had the entire drive back to the penthouse.

Of course he left out that he'd actually have to confess what Maxie had done because he didn't want to have secrets between him and Jason. She would just get upset and anxious, and it would be easier if Spinelli stepped between them and took the blame. He could make the entire set-up his fault and admit that they only wanted to know what Jason was doing. It wasn't like him to be so secretive and private – well, it was, but not with Spinelli.

And that was the only reason he'd gone along with Maxie's scheme at all.

"We should get a connection soon," he murmured, frowning at his computer screen as he hit a few keys.

"What's all this?" she asked, desperately sounding as she needed a distraction.

"Receiver. Transmitter. Fancy things that the Fair Maximista need not touch," he replied, continuing to type. His hands were shaky and they kept him from moving as fast as he usually would, but he was terrified.

This was worse than bad.

This was like death.

Times a million.

To his laptop.

"Maximista, you have to promise me something," he muttered, swallowing hard as he turned up the volume and waited for the connection to come through.

"Anything," she agreed, knowing there was a deal coming for what she'd done.

"No more pressing Stone Cold or myself for information regarding his personal life. If he chooses to sleep with Vixenella-"

"We already ruled her out," she chimed in, a proud smile on her lips.

"Okay, if Stone Cold chooses to sleep with the Formerly Fair Samantha or the Mat – Fair Elizabeth then we must let him."

"I get that, I do," she agreed, shrugging as she looked at the computer screen. He could see her trying to sort out what was on the screen, and he couldn't help but grin. "I don't know why I became so obsessed. I hate secrets, which is completely insane considering we're going behind Jason's back. I can't figure out why he would want to keep whoever he's sleeping with a secret anyway. That cannot be any fun for her."

Spinelli frowned, knowing he couldn't rightly explain why Jason was so complicated, that he feared hurting the people he loved. She wouldn't understand why he'd given up Jake and pushed Elizabeth away, and that reason alone was why he didn't believe Jason was sleeping with anyone.

Sure, Jason was being quiet and detached.

Yeah, there was something he wasn't telling Spinelli.

But more than likely it was business related, meaning that they shouldn't be following him period.

"We should have never done this," Maxie muttered, leaning against Spinelli and resting her head on his shoulder.

"The Jackal is afraid he must agree," he sighed, hanging his head.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, their fears mixing with one another's.

"How long does it take this damn thing to work?" she asked wearily, straightening up beside him.

"I hadn't used them before," he replied nervously, fiddling with the speaker. "I don't even know if they – oh, there." He nodded when static came over the speakers. "I'd rather not hear anything."

"Tell me about it," she huffed, tossing her bangs from her face. She wrinkled her nose as the static continued. "Can't you fix that?"

"I'm trying," he replied, shaking his head when it grew louder, practically booming through the room. "It's just – well, I didn't really get to try these out. You found them and – oh, there."

The static grew softer, a low hum as Jason's voice came over the speakers. "This is precisely why I didn't want to meet…"

"What the hell?" Maxie cried, clenching her fists when his voice faded away.

"Um, one sec," Spinelli muttered, fiddling with the cords.

"…_if Spinelli is that close to finding…"_

"I hope you didn't spend a lot on this, Spinelli. You were completely ripped off," she hissed agitatedly. "This is what you get for buy something off the damn internet from some computer geek, who still lives in some room with black walls in his parents' home."

Spinell frowned. "Fair Maximista, I feel compelled to remind you that I-"

"Live in a pink room, in a penthouse, and with a mobster," she interrupted, ticking each item off on her fingers. "You easily trump whatever idiot made this, and you could probably make loads of money if you made your own."

"Good to know that there is a fallback plan if the Jackal requires it," he murmured sadly.

"Oh, stop. You're the cream of the crop, and you know it." She nudged his arms. "And I forgot to mention another way you trump all computer geeks." He looked at her curiously. "You have _me_."

"Fair Maximista, that is the sweetest, most kindest-"

"Shh," she said, smacking him on the arm as she pointed at the speakers, the static having suddenly cleared out.

"…_I know this is hard, but this can't work. Not right now."_

_"Because you don't want it to." _

Spinelli's ears perked up at the familiar female voice, his brow furrowing as he tried to remember exactly who it belonged to.

"_You know that's not true. I'm trying to make this work, but right now, with everything going on…"_

"Shit," Maxie hissed, kicking the coffee table in annoyance when Jason's voice trailed off. Static burst into the room, and she gave Spinelli an apologetic smile when she realized it was her fault. "Sorry. I just got mad, but in my own defense, if this wasn't such – oh, it's back."

"_You're giving me an ultimatum?" _

"Are you freaking kidding me?" she cried, jumping to her feet and stalking away from the coffee table. "I feel like we're living in 1930, listening to some terrible radio show soap opera that with a plot that just comes and goes as it pleases. This is not fair. I need to know what he's-"

"Perhaps, this is business and not a woman," he interjected, holding up a finger as he hurried to bring the connection back.

"No, it's not." She shook her head firmly and sat down on the back of the couch. "Look at the facts, Spinelli. You're not seeing this because you don't want to, but things add up towards a woman. And sex. And secret sex, which is the worst kind – at least for the woman. And he was just saying something about you finding out and how he couldn't do this with everything going on. I bet she wants to break it off."

"How can the Fair Maximista be so confident?" he asked, not believing her.

"Because I'm a woman," she said, rolling her eyes as if he should have been able to figure it out. "And I've had that same exact conversation before. Not that you wanted to be reminded about that."

"Well, perhaps it could give insight to the case," he offered, not wanting her to feel embarrassed about her past.

"Good point," she grinned, straightening up as she looked at him thoughtfully. "Well, when I was sleeping with Lucky it was a secret affair. Granted, I was giving him something so he would stay with me, but countless times I badgered him about leaving his wife, and he always said he couldn't – that there was too much going on, and then I'd give him an ultimatum."

"That he never took," he murmured, thinking about how brokenhearted Maxie must have been to put so much faith into something that never happened.

"Nope," she agreed, blowing her bangs from her face. "So I know exactly how whoever…" She trailed off when the static stopped again.

"_So, that's it?" _

Spinelli frowned at the sad tone of Jason's voice.

"_That's it." _

The woman sounded as sad as Jason, and he knew without a doubt who his friend was talking to. The familiarity of the heartbreak and pain was too familiar, something Spinelli had been there for all along.

"_You know I love you."_

Swallowing hard, he looked over his shoulder at Maxie, who was staring at the computer. He felt panicked, knew he had to do something. He leaned forward suddenly and started to cough, tumbling off the edge of the couch and onto the floor, pulling the laptop down with him.

"Oh my God, Spinelli!" she shrieked, jumping over the back of the couch and sliding to the floor. "Are you okay? Spinelli?"

"_I love you too, but I can't do this." _

He rolled over, trying to jerk the wires from the computer, but Maxie was holding him tightly, her hand on his face. "Are you alright? Forget about the stupid bug, Spinelli. You look like you can barely catch your breath." Spinelli curled up into a ball in her lap and let out a low groan, trying to distract her. Why was it that the bug worked when he didn't want it to, but failed when he needed it to?.

"_I'm so sorry, Elizabeth." _

"What?" Maxie cried, lifting her eyes to the speaker.

Spinelli whimpered, burying his face in her lap, hoping that he could just will himself to die.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**|Harbor View Towers, Penthouse 2|**

"Maximista?" Spinelli asked timidly, pulling himself up from the couch and slumping beside her.

She'd abandoned her friend the very second she realized he was just trying to distract her from hearing Jason and Elizabeth's conversation; sitting down on the couch and glaring expectantly at her best friend. And she'd remained exceptionally quiet as he'd patiently filled in the blanks, forcing her to swear on all things sacred between them that this conversation would never leave the penthouse.

Maxie was never this quiet.

"Please, forgive me for forsaking our trust, but this was the deepest of secrets to Stone Cold and-"

"I'm trying to process it all," she sighed softly, leaning back against the couch cushions. Her arms were folded over her chest, shoulders drawn tightly inward, and she appeared completely defeated.

"It wasn't that the Jackal didn't want to share everything with his Fair Maximista, but Stone Cold confided in me in ways that he did no one else. I had no choice but to honor that."

"I get that you lied because your friend asked you to," she said, shifting her eyes to his. "I just – Everyone thinks Jason is so noble and honest, so damn trustworthy, and this entire time-"

"Stone Cold is only attempting to protect the people he loves more than his own life. If he could control the danger, the fierce attempts that would be made on the innocent ones and his lady love's lives, then they would live together in marital and nuclear family bliss, but-"

"But he's protecting them," she grimaced, her lips curling in disgust. "I can't believe him."

"Oh, Maximista, he's doing what he believes is best-"

"He has a child," she interrupted, shaking her head as if nothing else mattered. "And he won't be a part of that child's life because he thinks it's not safe."

"You seem to get the gist of the Jackal's-"

"What if Lucky decides he doesn't want to play Daddy to Elizabeth's kids anymore?" she interrupted angrily. "What if something happens and Jake needs a blood transfusion or he catches some bizarre Quartermaine disease? What happens then?"

"Those are heightened situations of intense circumstances, and the Jackal believes that Fair Elizabeth and Stone Cold have weighed their options. They've examined the situation and agreed this was best. I suppose that while they were protecting Jake, it was more difficult to stay away from one another, to pretend as if they didn't share the kind of love that-"

"This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," she interrupted, straightening up and glaring at Spinelli. "How can you support what they're doing? You're Jason's best friend. You have a brain – one that functions and isn't damaged and usually sees things for what they really are. How can you honestly look at what they are doing to that poor kid and think it's okay?"

"It's the only way to ensure that Stone Cold's progeny grows up safe from the darkness that invades his life."

"No," she corrected, getting up from the couch and putting her hands on her hips. "It's a way for Jason to cowardly avoid-"

"You know what happened to the former owner of the organization and his son – how their lives have been ripped apart and-"

"Jason isn't Sonny. He doesn't think with a hot head and do stupid things like slam exceptionally smart people into walls," she interrupted, frowning at him. "How can you honestly support this? One day Jake is going to learn the truth. Lucky will stop wanting to be Daddy. And patron saint Elizabeth will have to fall off the damn pedestal that everyone put her on."

He just looked at her, confused as to why she felt so deeply about people that she didn't even like. "Maximista, I-"

"Don't defend him," she warned, her eyes hardening as they filled with tears. She turned away and took a deep breath. "You can't honestly say that you support this, that this is good for everyone, Spinelli."

"Stone Cold is my best friend. I _have_ to support his choices, Maximista. It's nothing I wouldn't do for you either."

"This is different," she argued, spinning around on her heels. "How can you – you just – you have no idea what it's like, Spinelli. How can you look at me – _me of all people_ – and tell me it's okay to have your parents abandon you because it's safer?"

He clenched his hands into fists, holding them tightly at his sides, and knew she was right. There was no way for him to explain this from Jason's viewpoint, not when her own parents had abandoned her for their careers, for lives that she didn't fit into.

"My own father couldn't come to my sister's funeral because he was working, and my mother could barely take the time to stay. And to find out that she had been with him, Spinelli?" she muttered, sinking down on the couch arm and leaning forward. "I don't know what's worse; to have my parents completely abandon Georgie and meI or to know that they get to have a life _together_."

"Whatever, if you want to support Jason in this that's fine," she continued, getting up to grab her purse from the floor. "I'm sorry I got you into this whole mess by bugging him and insisting we find out who he was sleeping with. If I would have had any idea he was sneaking off for nookie breaks with this baby's mama instead of actually stepping up and being a father, I would have never bothered. This is far more information than I'd like to be privy to, Spinelli."

"You don't have to go, Maximista," he said, getting up from the couch and following her to the door. "Please don't be upset with the Jackal for-"

"You're doing what you always do," she interrupted seriously, shrugging half-heartedly as she opened the door and turned around. "You're protecting Jason, which is fine. I get it, but I can't – I don't want to know anymore about it. If Jason wants to play deadbeat daddy of the year, fine, but I don't want to be a part of it."

"It's more complicated than that-"

"Of course it is," she interrupted, slinging her purse over her shoulder and starting for the elevator. "But it sounds to me like Jason and Elizabeth are doing what's best for them. He's too afraid to be a father, to have a child hurt on his watch, and Elizabeth is too afraid to get involved in his world. Well, they should have thought about that before they rolled between the sheets because, as everyone knows, there are consequences, and I'm not just talking about the kind you make up for attention like I would dome."

Taking a deep breath, she punched the elevator button and looked over at her friend. "And I know this sounds completely ridiculous, but I almost feel bad for Elizabeth. Sure, she lied to Lucky and she's done her fair share of screwing people over and being a complete bitch in the process, but she just sounds desperate to hold onto Jason in some way, and if she's not careful she'll end up just like my mother. Tossing her entire life to the side, which she's already started by having this stupid secret affair of theirs, in favor of having Jason – as much or as little as he'll give her."

"Stone Cold would never allow Elizabeth to give up her children to be with him. He loves them-"

"Loves them or her? Because from the way it looks he's spending time with her and _not_ his kid, Spinelli," she interrupted, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the elevator. "And don't you even start crying danger, danger on me because my head will completely explode. Sure, Jason may love his kid, but how much? And is it fair of him to ask Elizabeth to be completely miserable? I just don't – Oh, well, look who it is."

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Jason as he stepped off the elevator, his eyes red-rimmed and jaw pulled tight. "I can come back," he muttered, looking between the two of them.

"It's fine," she shrugged, forcing a smile at Spinelli. "I was just leaving, and before I do, I guess I should confess my loooong list of sins so you don't hurt him."

"Maximista, let the Jackal explain to Stone Cold-"

"We've been following you," she interrupted, glaring at Jason as she held out her hand and started to tick things off on her fingers. "Stalking actually, you know spying in bushes, listening in on phone calls, and tonight I put a bug on you. And before you start holding your breath and sputtering that you want me to go away, I'd like to finish."

"This whole thing started because you were being all secretive and stupid in that manly way that the male species gets when they think they are pulling the wool over everyone's eyes, only you're not very good at it. So, Spinelli and I deliberated, and we decided you were most definitely dipping your noodle in somewhere."

"Excuse me?" he growled, narrowing his eyes at her.

Spinelli started to panic, knowing this was not going to end well for anyone.

"I thought Sam, but Spinelli insisted it wasn't, so we played spies and tracked you down, and I never in a million years imagined you were hiding a lady and a baby, Jason," she hissed, mirroring his hard stare. "I thought it was some frivolous affair with maybe even Claudia Zacchara only to find out tonight, when I bugged you – yeah, I put a bug on you at the bar, but Spinelli figured out who you were meeting and why, and he tried to stop it, but we still heard everything."

"What the fuck," he spat through gritted teeth. Spinelli winced at the pulsing vein that was bulging out of his friend's neck, and he just knew that Jason was going to kill them both and throw them in the harbor. "This isn't some fucking game, Maxie."

"If I were you I'd watch my tone," she warned, putting her hands on her hips. "Because, lucky for you, I don't want any part of this. If I would have known you were hiding Elizabeth and your son, I would have never started this. I don't want to know that you of all people – the one person who is so damn noble and honest and trustworthy - is the least of all those things. And I hate that my best friend looks up to you when you're lying and sneaking around and hurting people that you supposedly care about."

"Maxie, you don't know what you're talking about," Jason snapped, clenching his fists tightly at his sides. His eyes flashed to Spinelli. "This is why she's not allowed in _my_ penthouse. Ever. Or else." His gaze shifted back to Maxie. "And if you plan on telling anyone, if you can't keep your mouth shut as Spinelli's friend-"

"I'm not going to tell anyone," she interrupted, waving her hand at him. "Besides it sounds like everyone in town already knows, which leaves me to wonder what happens when someone slips up. Because like I told Spinelli, one day Lucky will not want to play Daddy and live in your shadowoulder or Ms. Goody Goody is going to go all noble and tell her son the truth – or worse, Jake is going to grow up and realize that his parents lied to him his entire life. That everything he knows is fake and they didn't even care-"

"We're doing this because we care," Jason insisted, shaking his head at her. "You need to leave."

"Oh, I'm leaving, and I won't be back," she replied smugly, hitting the elevator button. "I just hope that when Jake is twenty-two years old, and he learns that his parents had some secret relationship without him, and that his daddy was strong enough to run an entire town, but too pathetic to be a father – I hope that he can forgive you and he doesn't turn into some attention starved brat who wants nothing more than to be loved – honestly loved by someone. Because if he doesn't, you're going to have a hell of a time on your hands, Jason Morgan."

"Well," she sighed, brushing her bangs from her face as the elevator doors opened, "I have to go. Spinelli you know where to find me if you want or need to talk to me, and if you feel obligatedion to stay and look after your friend, I understand. I just hope you realize that not everything Jason says or does is golden, and I would hope that you'd never do something like this to me if we were put in the same position."

She stepped onto the elevator and hit the button for the parking garage, and flashed a grin as the doors closed. "Night, Spinelli. See you never again, asshole!"

He was torn between following after onehis best friend and staying with his other, not sure which needed him most, and it was going to be impossible to simply sit this one out. "Stone Cold, if I may have the floor to explain-"

"You told the one person with a mouth as big as Carly's," he cried, storming into the penthouse. He shrugged off his jacket and slammed it down on the desk along with his gun. "I can at least trust that Carly won't say anything, but Maxie? Spinelli, what the hell were you thinking? And how in the fuck could you follow me? Listen in my on my conversations? Bug me? Do you realize what kind of-"

"Stone Cold, Maximista isn't going to tell anyone. She's too heartbroken over how close to home this is and-"

"I don't care. You broke my trust, Spinelli. You took the one thing I trusted you with and you told…" He trailed off and threw up his hands as he stalked towards the kitchen. "I don't even care anymore."

Sighing, Spinelli reluctantly followed after him, hoping that when Jason had downed the beer that he was surely going after, they could talk this through. "She thought it was something silly and fun," he murmured, pausing in the doorway to the kitchen. "I was afraid you'd fallen beneath the spell of Vixenella. Had I known you were secretly seeing Fair Elizabeth, I would have never allowed Maximista-"

"You shouldn't have allowed her to do this in the first place," he hissed, slamming the fridge shut and opening his beer.

"The Jackal is deeply apologetic, and he wishes he would have controlled Maximista's hold on him."

"Exactly," he muttered, taking a swig from the bottle and setting it down on the counter. "She gets you to do things you wouldn't normally do, and it gets you into trouble." He glanced at Spinelli over his shoulder and shook his head. "You're the one person I can count on and trust, Spinelli. This secret is everything. It protects Elizabeth and Jake and if she tells…"

"She won't."

"How can you be so sure?" he insisted, snatching his beer from the counter. "Maxie does what she wants."

"Because – because her parental units left her with the overprotective uncle to keep her from harm's way and they had an entire life of their own _together_," Spinelli answered honestly, wondering if maybe Maxie was onto something. "Maximista may not have the best of feelings for Elizabeth or you, but she feels things deeper than most people see. And this – what her parental units did broke her heart, and all she could talk about was how one day it would break Jake's. And I think, if the Jackal may be so honest, that you're wearing thin, you _and_ Fair Elizabeth, because Maximista may actually be onto something. So many are already privy to knowledge that should have remained between you and your beloved, and it is only a matter of time before…"

Jason's face softened for a moment as if Spinelli's words were actually sinking in, and he turned around and busted the beer bottle in the sink before storming past his friend, muttering something about going for a bike ride. He lingered in the penthouse long enough to threaten Maxie and Spinelli's lives before slamming the door hard behind him.

Sighing, Spinelli retreated to the living room to clean up the mess from the computer, hoping that Jason was more upset about being wrong than being right, and that, just maybe, something good would actually come from this.


	11. Chapter 11

**Attention Readers:**

I just wanted to let you all know that I will **no** longer be updating my fics on this site and that within the next couple weeks or so, I'll have the account removed in its entirety.

I have been having so many issues with uploading my documents from Word and the documents still containing tons of mistakes that aren't in the copy I have saved on my computer. I've tried countless ways of avoiding this, but it's still happening, and lately I've been getting lots of PMs/Emails/Comments about the lack of editing. It's as frustrating for me as it is for you to read, and I'm tired of not being able to fix it, especially when I spend so much time editing them.

I have a personal website with all my fanfics (as well as site exclusives) that you can find here linked on my author page. For some reason I couldn't link it here - just another reason to be pissed off with this site. You do have to register an account to read, but it only takes a few minutes. I send out email alerts every time a story is updated just like you receive on here or you can bookmark a thread to receive alerts when it's updated.

If you wish to continue reading the stories, you'll have to sign up for my site. I know it's inconvenient, but has proven to be more inconvenient than anything else for me, and I'm throwing in the towel.

Hopefully you're not too pissed off at me for doing this and I'll see you on the site.

Ambs


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